Meta appeals against Rs 213.14 crore penalty imposed by CCI for abusing dominant position

Meta plans to file an appeal against the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) Rs 213.14 crore fine for allegedly abusing its dominant position.

Meta said on Tuesday that it intends to challenge the Competition Commission of India’s ruling and that it disagrees with the CCI’s decision to impose a penalty.

In a statement, a Meta representative said that the 2021 update was provided to users at the time and did not alter the privacy of their private communications.

“We also ensured no one would have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of the WhatsApp service because of this update,” said a spokesman.

“The upgrade increased clarity about our data collection and use practices while also adding optional business tools on WhatsApp. Since then, WhatsApp has shown to be very beneficial to both individuals and companies, helping small enterprises and facilitating the delivery of citizen services by government agencies and organizations via COVID and other initiatives, all of which boost the Indian economy. All of this is made possible via WhatsApp’s Meta-supported services.
According to the Meta representative, they are dedicated to figuring out a way to go ahead that will enable them to keep offering the experiences that consumers and companies have become used to from them.

The adoption of WhatsApp’s 2021 Privacy Policy, which included contentious data gathering and sharing activities with other Meta organizations, is the subject of the lawsuit, according to CCI.

In addition to the fine, the CCI has ordered behavioral changes to be made within a certain time frame and issued cease-and-desist orders.

WhatsApp updated its privacy policy and terms of service in January 2021, informing users via in-app prompts. The new policy went into effect on February 8, 2021, and required users to agree to broader conditions for data collecting, which included sharing user data with other Meta firms.

In contrast to the 2016 privacy policy, which gave users the option to refuse data sharing with Facebook, the 2021 change eliminated this option and forced users to agree to the terms or risk losing their WhatsApp account.

This “take it or leave it” strategy was deemed an unfair condition under the Competition Act by the CCI because it deprived users of their autonomy by requiring them to abide with increased conditions for data collection and sharing.

Additionally, the Commission called attention to anti-competitive activities that resulted from Meta entities exchanging user data.
For five years, WhatsApp is not allowed to share user data gathered on its platform with other Meta businesses for marketing reasons. Following this time frame, specific rules governing this kind of data exchange will take effect.