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A Turkish government body said on Monday it fined Twitter CEO Elon Musk regarding his takeover of the social media site.
Turkey’s Competition Board fined the billionaire 0.1% of Twitter’s gross income in 2022. Musk was fined for not obtaining permission from the board when he bought Twitter last year, according to a statement.
What it means: The board did not say on what precise legal authority it fined Musk. A controversial Turkish social media law came into effect in 2020 requiring social media companies to comply with content removal requests, store user data and appoint representatives in Turkey, among other measures. Critics said the law amounted to censorship, Al-Monitor reported at the time.
Twitter opened an office and appointed a representative in Turkey in 2021 in response to the law.
Musk purchased Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion, vowing to bring free speech back to the platform.
Twitter’s gross income in 2022 is not publicly available at present. The Wall Street Journal reported this month that the company’s revenue fell about 40% on the year last December.
Musk tweeted the outlet in February, saying Twitter is "trending to break even.” Twitter struggled to become profitable for years before Musk took over.
Why it matters: Musk’s acquisition of Twitter elicited a strong reaction in Turkey, in part due to his relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Musk and Erdogan met in 2017 and held a virtual meeting in late 2021. Musk’s SpaceX launched a Turkish satellite into space shortly thereafter.
In December of last year, Musk’s electric vehicle maker Tesla started hiring in Turkey.
