Key Points
- An Indian appeals tribunal has lifted a five-year ban on WhatsApp sharing user data with other Meta companies.
- The original ban was imposed by India’s antitrust watchdog, the CCI, in November 2024.
- While the ban was overturned, a $25.4 million fine against Meta for abusing its market dominance was upheld.
- India is Meta’s largest market by number of users for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
An Indian appeals court on Tuesday reversed a five-year ban that had stopped Meta-owned WhatsApp from sharing user data with other Meta companies for advertising purposes. However, the court did uphold a fine against the company, giving the U.S. tech giant a partial victory.
WhatsApp had challenged the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) decision from November 2024, which imposed a ban on data sharing. At the time, WhatsApp warned that it might have to remove some features. Meta also criticized the CCI, saying it lacked the “technical expertise” to understand the consequences of its order.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) lifted the data-sharing ban, stating that “the rationale for the…ban was missing altogether.” But the tribunal did not let Meta off the hook completely. It upheld the $25.4 million fine that the CCI had originally imposed, agreeing that Meta had abused its dominant market position by forcing unfair conditions on its users.
This case began in 2021, when WhatsApp announced changes to its privacy policy, sparking widespread criticism. The CCI’s investigation found that the new policy essentially forced users to accept the changes or risk losing access to the messaging service.
In response to the tribunal’s decision, a spokesperson for Meta told Reuters, “While we evaluate the written order, we continue to reiterate that WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy update did not change the privacy of people’s personal messages, which remain end-to-end encrypted.”
India is a huge market for Meta, with more users on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp than in any other country. This ruling is significant as it sets a precedent for how data privacy and competition law will be applied to major tech companies operating in the country.
