India’s Competition Commission (CCI) has fined Meta INR 213.14 crore (approximately $25.3 million) for abusing its market dominance through WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy update. The regulator found that the update violated the Competition Act by requiring users to share their data with Meta’s companies, such as Facebook and Instagram, without offering an opt-out option.
The CCI ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with Meta entities for advertising purposes for five years. It also mandated that WhatsApp must:
– Clearly disclose the data shared with Meta companies and the reasons for doing so.
– Allow users to opt out of non-service-related data sharing and modify their preferences within the app.
– Extend these options to all users, including those who accepted the 2021 policy update.
The investigation concluded that WhatsApp holds a dominant position in India’s messaging market, while Meta leads in online advertising. The CCI deemed the 2021 update unfair for forcing expanded data-sharing terms without alternatives, exploiting WhatsApp’s market dominance, and stifling competition by creating barriers for rivals in advertising.
The controversial update has faced global backlash, with Brazil’s courts banning WhatsApp from sharing data with Facebook and Instagram in August 2024. Meta, however, disagreed with the CCI’s findings and announced plans to appeal, maintaining that the update did not affect the privacy of personal messages and was optional for users.
The CCI’s investigation, launched in early 2021, continued despite Meta and WhatsApp’s legal attempts to halt it, underscoring intensifying regulatory focus on data privacy and market practices in the digital space.
