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On Thursday, an Indian tribunal suspended the restrictions Banned WhatsApp from sharing user data with its parent company Meta has scored a significant victory for Mark Zuckerberg’s social media empire in its largest market by users.
The ruling by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal temporarily overturns a five-year-old ban by India’s antitrust regulator that accused WhatsApp of abusing its market dominance. 2021 privacy policy.
India is the largest market for Meta and WhatsApp. According to research by Sensor Tower, more than 700 million users in India use WhatsApp every month.
In November, the Competition Commission of India found that WhatsApp’s take-it-or-leave-it privacy update abused Meta’s dominant position by forcing users to accept expanded data collection without the option to opt out.
At the time, an observer found that Meta dominated two key markets in India: “add-on” messaging apps via smartphones and online display advertising.
While the ban remained in place on Thursday, the tribunal ordered Meta to deposit about $12.35 million – half of the larger fine – within two weeks. The court will hear the next case on March 17.
The tribunal, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, expressed concern that the five-year ban could threaten the business model of WhatsApp, which provides the messaging service for free to users.
Meta’s lawyers argued that India’s digital privacy law, which is expected to come into effect later this year, should govern such matters rather than competition rules.
“We welcome NCLAT’s decision to partially stay the Competition Commission of India (CCI) order. While we evaluate the next steps, we remain focused on finding a way forward that supports the millions of businesses that depend on our platform for growth and innovation, as well as providing the high-quality experience people expect from WhatsApp,” said a Meta spokesperson. statement.
The controversy began when WhatsApp required users to accept expanded data sharing with Meta platforms or risk losing access to the messaging service. While European users can opt out of such sharing, Indian users cannot — a distinction that regulators find problematic.
