The Competition Commission (CCI) imposed a fine of Rs 213.14 crore on social media giant Meta on Monday for engaging in unfair business practices through WhatsApp’s privacy update. The fine, levied in 2021, is for Meta’s actions in accepting anti-competitive conduct. The CCI also instructed Meta to stop engaging in such practices.
The competition regulator’s order revealed that Meta misused data through WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy, particularly in how it collects user data and shares it with other companies in the market. In addition to the fine, the CCI directed WhatsApp to halt sharing user data with other Meta products or companies for advertising purposes for the next five years. This decision has dealt a significant blow to Meta, especially considering WhatsApp’s large user base of more than 500 million monthly active users in India.
The CCI launched an investigation into WhatsApp’s revised privacy policy in March 2021, which allowed the platform to share critical data with Facebook (now Meta) and its associated companies. Previously, since 2016, users had the option to choose whether to share their data with the company. However, the new policy, effective from February 2021, required users to accept the new terms before using WhatsApp, which led to widespread criticism. In response, Meta cancelled the rollout and later clarified that the policy update would not affect the privacy of users’ private messages with friends or family.