New Delhi . Social media platform Meta on Monday approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). In this, the recent order of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been challenged. In this order, a fine of Rs 213 crore has been imposed on the firm regarding the 2021 privacy policy update of WhatsApp.
In November last year, the competition regulator had directed WhatsApp not to share user data collected on its platform with other meta products or companies for advertising purposes for a period of five years. It also imposed a fine of Rs 213.14 crore on Meta for allegedly abusing its dominant position.
Meta has now informed NCLAT that the CCI order will have a cascading effect on the entire industry and hence, the matter will require urgent hearing.
Now the matter will come up for hearing before the Appellate Tribunal on January 16.
WhatsApp has more than 500 million monthly active users in the country.
Last year, when CCI had directed WhatsApp not to share user data collected on its platform with other meta products or companies for advertising purposes for a period of five years, the social media platform said that He disagrees with the CCI's decision and plans to appeal.
According to the CCI order, “The 2021 policy update was introduced by WhatsApp on a 'take it or leave it' basis, which shows unfair terms under the Act.
Because it forces all users to accept the expanded data collection terms and share data within the meta group without any optout.”
A Meta spokesperson responded by saying that the 2021 WhatsApp update did not change the privacy of people's personal messages and at that time it was introduced as an option for users.
According to the company spokesperson, “We also ensured that due to this update no one's account is deleted or the functionality of WhatsApp service is not lost.
The update was about introducing optional business features on WhatsApp and providing more transparency about how we collect and use data.”
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Image Credit: KhasKhabar.