The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a fine of Rs 213.14 crore on Meta, the parent company of Facebook and WhatsApp, on Monday.
The fine was for Meta’s unfair business practices related to the WhatsApp privacy update in 2021.
Additionally, CCI has instructed Meta to halt its anti-competitive actions and refrain from such practices in the future.
Abused his dominance
In its order, the CCI stated that Meta abused its dominant position. The fine also relates to WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy, including how user data was collected and shared with other Meta companies.
WhatsApp is not allowed to share data of Indian users
The Competition Commission of India has stated that WhatsApp cannot share Indian user data collected on its platform with other Meta companies for advertising purposes for the next 5 years.
This is a major setback for WhatsApp, as the platform has over 500 million monthly active users in India alone.
These accusations have been made against Meta
In its investigation, the CCI found that WhatsApp’s ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ policy update was unfair.
This policy forced all WhatsApp users to accept data collection terms and share data within the Meta group without an option to opt out.
The CCI stated that this update, introduced by Meta, compelled users to comply, reducing their freedom to choose.
According to the CCI, Meta, through WhatsApp, violated Section 4(2)(A)(i).
CCI began investigating WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy in March 2021, which broadened data collection and made it easier to share data with Meta and its other products.
Until 2016, users had the choice to decide whether or not to share their data with any company.
