Meta received some relief in an antitrust case in India on Thursday, January 23, after a tribunal body set aside a directive by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to halt the sharing of WhatsApp user data with other platforms owned by the tech giant for advertising purposes till 2029. The CCI directive was part of a larger order issued in November last year that imposed a Rs 213 crore fine on WhatsApp for imposing unfair terms on users in India by abusing its dominance of the over-the-top (OTT) messaging market. This order stemmed from the competition watchdog's probe of WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update that mandated data sharing between the messaging giant and other Meta-owned platforms like Facebook and Instagram, raising significant concerns about user privacy and market fairness. Meta had responded by saying that it disagrees with the CCI order and appealed before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) for an interim stay on the order. While NCLAT has granted a temporary stay on one out of five CCI directives, it also ordered WhatsApp to deposit 50 per cent of the penalty amount of Rs 213 crore in the next two weeks. “We welcome the NCLAT’s decision to grant a partial stay on the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) order. While we will evaluate next steps, our focus remains on finding a path forward that supports millions of businesses that depend on our platform for growth and innovation as well as providing high-quality experiences that people expect from WhatsApp,” a Meta spokesperson said of Thursday’s NCLAT ruling in a statement. The NCLAT ruling was issued by a tribunal bench comprising Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Arun Baroka. Five CCI directives Besides imposing a monetary fine, the CCI had ordered WhatsApp to implement the following behavioural remedies within three months. - Do not share user data with other Meta-owned services for advertising purposes, for the next five years (This was set aside by NCLAT). With respect to sharing of WhatsApp user data for purposes other than advertising: - Provide detailed explanations specifying what data is being shared with other Meta platforms and for what reasons. - The sharing of WhatsApp user data with other Meta platforms should not be a condition to access WhatsApp in India. With respect to sharing of WhatsApp user data for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp services: - Give WhatsApp users in India a way to opt out of such data sharing through an in-app notification from 2029 onwards. - Let users review and modify their choice through a separate tab in the app’s Settings. In a hearing before the NCLAT bench on January 16, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Meta and WhatsApp, had argued that WhatsApp’s data sharing practices were essential for business sustainability. “Just as Google uses search data for ads and Google Maps accesses location data, WhatsApp, while free, cannot operate as a philanthropic entity,” they said. The CCI, on the other hand, had opposed any stay on its order and pointed out that WhatsApp let users in Europe opt-out of data sharing while insisting on a “take-it-or-leave-it” policy in India. Ruling in favour of WhatsApp, the tribunal bench held that stopping it from sharing user data with other Meta platforms "may lead to the collapse of business model which has been followed by WhatsApp LLC. "It is also relevant to notice that WhatsApp is providing WhatsApp services to its user free of cost," the NCLAT order read.
