In a Relief to Meta, Law Tribunal Stays Meta-WhatsApp Data Sharing Ban

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) stayed the Competition Commission of India (CCI) order, which directed WhatsApp to prevent data sharing with other platforms associated with its parent company, on January 24. 

In November last, CCI imposed a ₹213.14 crore penalty on Meta. This was due to WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy update, which requires users to accept data sharing with Meta. CCI raised concerns about data privacy, as this policy did not allow users to opt out of data sharing, unlike the 2016 privacy policy. CCI also issued cease and desist orders for all of their anti-competitive practices and investigated any violations of the Competition Act of 2002. 

However, NCLAT directed WhatsApp/Meta to deposit 50% of the penalty within the next two weeks. 

According to reports, Chairperson Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Arun Baroka said, “A five-year ban may lead to the collapse of WhatsApp LLC’s business model since the platform is free. We are of the view that the ban needs to be stayed.”

In an earlier hearing on January 16, advocates for Meta and WhatsApp contended that CCI overstepped its authority by addressing the privacy policy while the Supreme Court was already considering it. 

A few days ago, Shivnath Thukral, VP of public policy of Meta India, issued an apology following controversy over CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s comments about the 2024 Indian general elections. 

Zuckerberg, on a recent podcast episode, said that many incumbent governments worldwide, including India, lost elections in 2024 due to factors such as inflation, economic policies, or the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In an attempt to debunk these claims and express his “disappointment”, Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s minister of electronics and IT, wrote on X, “Zuckerberg’s claim that most incumbent governments, including India in 2024 elections, lost post-COVID is factually incorrect.”

Thukral responded to Ashwini Vaishnaw and said, “Mark’s observation that many incumbent parties were not re-elected in 2024 elections holds true for several countries, but not India. We would like to apologise for this inadvertent error.