In August, the Delhi High Court had refused to stay the probe ordered by the CCI last year. While doing so, it held that WhatsApp occupies a dominant position in the relevant product market and that there exists a strong lock-in effect which renders its users incapable of shifting to another platform despite dissatisfaction with the product.
The High Court had said that the 2021 policy was a substantially modified version of its 2016 policy since under the new terms, there is no “opt-out” option, the presence of which led the CCI to conclude that the 2016 Policy did not violate the Competition Act.
The High Court had also held that solely for the reason that the policy itself does not emanate out of Facebook, it cannot hide behind the fact that it is the direct and immediate beneficiary of the data sharing mechanism envisaged by the policies.
These circumstances necessitate the presence of Facebook as a proper party in the investigation related to the 2021 policy and the alleged anti-competitive practices they trigger, the judgment had stated.
Source: Barandbench
