Meta Warns India Antitrust Ruling Could Lead To Roll Back Of Features

Tech giant meta may have to "roll back or pause" certain features in India due to an antitrust directive which banned its WhatsApp messaging service from sharing user data for advertising, as per a court filing by the company.

The company is seeking to repeal the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) directive issued in November.

What Is The Controversy About?

The antitrust agency found that the tech giant Meta had abused its dominance and "coerced" WhatsApp users into accepting a privacy policy in 2021 which expanded user data collection and sharing, giving it an unfair advantage over rivals.

CCI has imposed a fine of $24.5 million along with a five year ban on the data sharing practice in India, the biggest market for Meta where it has over 350 million Facebook users and more than 500 million WhatsApp users.

Meta's Defense

Meta has publicly defended its policy change and said it disagrees with the CCI order, but the appeal has now taken a critical position on the watchdog's functioning and details how unnerved the firm is with respect to CCI's decision.

Meta is concerned that the WhatsApp-to-Meta user data sharing ban on WhatsApp will curb its ability to offer personalised ads on Facebook and Instagram, according to a Reuters report.

WhatsApp shares a user's phone number, transaction data, how they interact with businesses and mobile device information with Meta.

"It impacts Meta’s and WhatsApp’s ability to remain commercially viable," the company said.

Additionally, Facebook India Online reported a revenue of $351 million in 2023-24, which has been the highest in at least five years.

The Indian appeals tribunal will hear Meta's plea on Thursday, even though the case could go on for weeks. In the meantime, the tribunal can put the CCI directive on hold.