Meta Challenges CCI Order Over WhatsApp Data Policy

Meta has approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to challenge a Rs 213 crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), stating that the order is legally flawed and exceeds the scope of competition law.

The CCI had in November 2024 ruled that Meta’s 2021 WhatsApp privacy policy, which allowed data sharing across its platforms, constituted abuse of dominance by limiting market access to advertisers. Appearing for Meta, Kapil Sibal said the regulator focused on privacy and data-sharing, which are unrelated to competition, and did not conduct an effect-based analysis or identify any specific anti-competitive practice. In January 2025, NCLAT temporarily stayed the CCI order that had also included a five-year ban on WhatsApp sharing user data for advertising.