Meta Reopens Threads in Türkiye, Bringing Live Chats, Communities and Direct Messaging Back

Meta said Threads has resumed availability in Türkiye as of today, letting users download the app, sign up through, or reactivate existing accounts. The company said people who re-enable their accounts will regain access to their prior posts, interactions, and followers, effectively restoring their Threads presence after the earlier disruption.

Meta frames the return as part of Threads’ continued evolution over the past two years. In addition to basic access, Turkish users will now have what Meta describes as a “richer experience,” including real-time Live Chats, Communities, and direct messaging.

The company did not provide details in its announcement about any ongoing conditions, timelines, or additional steps beyond the user-facing restart. It directed users to a Threads Help Center for help getting started or for instructions to reactivate accounts.

The update also points back to what led to Threads’ earlier halt in the country. In April 2024, Meta said it would shut down Threads in Türkiye after an interim order from the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA) restricted the sharing of data between Threads and Instagram. Meta said it disagreed with the interim order, believed it complied with Turkish legal requirements, and planned to appeal.

In that earlier statement, Meta said it had “no choice” but to temporarily shut down Threads in Türkiye while it engaged with the regulator. It also described steps it was taking to minimize disruption, but at the time it was not announcing an immediate path back to availability.

Now, the company is returning with the product features that are increasingly central to how Threads competes in the social networking space. Live Chats are designed to enable real-time, back-and-forth discussion inside the service. Communities are topical spaces meant to help users congregate around shared interests. Direct messaging gives users a private channel to communicate without leaving the Threads ecosystem.

Taken together, the reinstatement indicates that Threads’ relationship with the Instagram data-access question has reached a point where Meta believes it can operate under the applicable rules. The company’s latest announcement is also notable for emphasizing continuity, specifically that reactivated users will see their earlier content and network relationships restored rather than starting over.

Still, some important questions remain unanswered in the public announcement. Meta does not explain what changed since the TCA’s interim order, nor does it outline whether the company is operating under the same restrictions, a revised set of terms, or a different regulatory posture. The company also does not state whether the return is limited to certain account types, regions within Türkiye, or feature-by-feature rollout stages.

For users, the immediate watch item is whether Live Chats, Communities, and direct messaging perform as expected at scale across Türkiye, and whether the reactivation process restores the full history promised by Meta. For the broader business and regulatory angle, the next thing to monitor is whether the regulator’s actions remain stable, and whether Meta provides further updates on compliance, data-sharing boundaries, and any final outcomes tied to its appeal.