A court in India has temporarily lifted the ban on WhatsApp sharing user data with its parent company Meta. This decision is seen as a significant legal victory for Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
A Major Win for WhatsApp and Meta
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) of India suspended the five-year ban imposed by the country’s competition regulator on WhatsApp. The ban had been imposed on the grounds that WhatsApp was abusing its market dominance.
India is WhatsApp’s largest market, with over 700 million active users every month. However, the country’s competition authority had claimed that WhatsApp’s “take it or leave it” privacy policy announced in 2021 forced users to share data.
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Meta’s lawyers argued that the new digital privacy laws expected to come into force in India should regulate such issues. The company deemed the competition regulator’s decision unnecessary and stated in their appeal to the court that it would be better to wait for the new law to take effect.
Meta welcomed the court’s decision, with a spokesperson stating:
“We welcome the NCLAT’s decision. Our current priority is to create a roadmap that supports growth and innovation for millions of businesses. We will continue providing quality services to our users.”
While the decision is a positive development for WhatsApp and Meta, the legal proceedings are still ongoing. The court has ordered Meta to pay a fine of $12.35 million within two weeks. The next hearing is scheduled for March 17.
The competition regulator has described it as problematic that WhatsApp users in Europe can opt out of data sharing, but such an option is not available in India.
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