NCLAT stays CCI's 5-yr ban on WhatsApp user data sharing with Meta

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday stayed part of a November 2024 order of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that barred WhatsApp from sharing user data with other Meta platforms for advertising purposes for five years.

- Aditi Agrawal

NEW DELHI:

The CCI order had also imposed a ₹213.14 crore penalty on WhatsApp for violating the Competition Act by using its market dominance to "coerce" users into accepting a privacy update that allowed sharing of data with platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

The NCLAT chairperson Ashok Bhushan, while putting on hold the five-year moratorium, ruled that WhatsApp will have to pay 50% of the penalty within two weeks. Other parts of the CCI order, which included providing an opt-out option, were not stayed.