NCLAT grants relief to Meta and WhatsApp by staying the CCI's five-year ban on data-sharing practices for advertising purposes, pending further evaluation
New Delhi: In a major relief to the social media platforms, Meta and WhatsApp, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday stayed the five-year ban imposed by competition watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) on data-sharing practices between two social media platforms for advertising purposes.
Meta had challenged the CCI’s order issued in November that imposed a ban on data sharing between WhatsApp and other Meta entities for advertising purposes, warning it may have to roll back some features. Tech giant Meta also criticised the CCI for not having the ‘technical expertise’ to understand the ramifications of its order.
However, Meta welcomed the NCLAT’s decision to grant a partial stay on the CCI’s directive, saying that it will evaluate in the next steps. “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.
In November, the competition watchdog imposed a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on social media major Meta for unfair business ways with respect to the WhatsApp privacy policy update done in 2021. Meta Platforms and WhatsApp had challenged this order before the NCLAT, which is an appellate authority over the orders passed by the CCI.
In its 156-page order, the CCI had on November 18, 2024, directed Meta to cease and desist from anti-competitive practices. “Meta and WhatsApp have also been asked to implement certain behavioural remedies within a defined timeline to address the anti-competition issues,” the CCI order had said
The regulator called for implementing various remedial measures, including barring WhatsApp from sharing data collected on its platform with other Meta companies or Meta company products for advertising purposes for five years. The CCI had also said that sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta companies or Meta company products for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp services should not be made a condition for users to access WhatsApp services in India.
