Meta to appeal against CCI penalty, diktat on data share

Menlo Park (California)-headquartered Meta Platforms on Tuesday opposed the ₹213-crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) along with a cease-and-desist directive that clamped down on data-sharing. Meta said it would appeal against the move.

- SHIVANI SHINDE

Late on Monday, India's antitrust body had announced the penalty on Meta for allegedly abusing its dominant position. The case relates to how Whats App's 2021 Privacy Policy was implemented and how user data was collected and shared with other Meta companies. Meta operates Facebook: "As a reminder, whats App: the 2021 Instagram and update did not Threads, among change the other services. privacy' of "We disagree IRONe S withthe ch deci- Personal. messages " slon arid pian t O said a Meth appea : S a spokesperson reminder, the 2021 update did not change the privacy of people's personal messages and was offered as a choice for users at the time," said a Meta spokesperson in a statement on Tuesday. "We also ensured no one would have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of the Whats App service because of this update," the statement added.

In its order on Monday, the CCI had issued cease-and-desist directions, asking Meta and Whats App to implement certain behavioural remedies within a defmed timeline. For instance, it has asked whats App to stop sharing user data with Meta companies for advertising purposes for flve years.