Meta has moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to contest the Rs 213 crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The company has argued that the CCI order has been “legally unsound and beyond the scope of competition law.”
As per media reports, the regulator has held in November 2024 that Meta’s 2021 policy update, allowing data sharing across its platforms, has amounted to abuse of dominance by denying market access to advertisers and leveraging its position in messaging to consolidate power.
Kapil Sibal, appearing for Meta, has argued that the regulator has entrenched upon issues of privacy and data sharing, which fall outside competition law. He has stated: “CCI has entrenched upon an aspect of the matter that has nothing to do with competition. Abusive practice has nothing to do with the data privacy policy of the platform.”
As per reports, Sibal has further argued that the CCI has not conducted an effect-based analysis or identified any specific anti-competitive practice.
In January this year, NCLAT has temporarily stayed the CCI’s order that imposed a five-year ban on WhatsApp from sharing user data with Meta for advertising purposes.
In November 2024, the CCI has fined Meta Rs 213 crore for allegedly abusing its market dominance through WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy. The penalty has reflected concerns that the policy has unfairly pushed users to share their data across Meta platforms, prioritising business and advertising objectives over consumer privacy.
