Comply or opt out of India: SC raps Meta and WhatsApp

Apex court says platforms are creating a monopoly in the market

- BHAVINI MISHRA

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday told Meta Platforms and WhatsApp that they ‘will have to comply with the law of the land if they want to operate in India. The apex court warned that it would not permit Indians’ personal data to be exploited.

The SC’s remarks came while examining challenges to penalties imposed over WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy. “You opt out of the country, withdraw your facilities from here. Because you are creating a monopoly in the market; there is no choice for the consumer,” the court told the companies during the hearing.

The remarks came as a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi took up appeals by Meta Platforms and WhatsApp LLC against a decision of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The appellate tribunal had upheld a ₹213.14-crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The CCI has also filed a cross-appeal against the NCLAT’s decision allowing data sharing for advertising after holding that there was no abuse of dominance on that count.

Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Akhil Sibal, appearing for Meta and WhatsApp, told the court that the penalty amount has been deposited.

While agreeing to hear the appeals on merits, the Chief Justice voiced sharp reservations about the platforms’ privacy framework and indicated that the court could restrain data sharing in the interim.

When their counsel submitted that the NCLAT had ruled in their favour on this aspect, the CCI disputed the claim.