SC raps Meta, WhatsApp over privacy breach; Rs 213 crore CCI fine upheld
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant & Justices Joymalya Bagchi, Vipul M Pancholi said that it will pass an interim order on Feb 9
A file image of the Supreme Court (Photo: IANS)
New Delhi, Feb 3: The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, came down heavily on Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp while hearing their appeals against a Competition Commission of India order imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over the privacy policy, saying tech giants cannot "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing".
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said that it will pass an interim order on February 9.
The top court ordered that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology be made a party to the petitions.
It was hearing appeals filed by Meta and WhatsApp against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment that upheld the CCI's findings of abuse of dominance, while granting limited relief on advertising-related data sharing.
"You can't play with the right of privacy of this country in the name of data sharing. We will not allow you to share a single word of the data, either you give an undertaking...you cannot violate the right of privacy of citizens," the CJI said.
The bench said the right to privacy is zealously guarded in the country and noted that the privacy terms are "so cleverly crafted" that a common person cannot understand them.
"This is a decent way of committing theft of private information, we will not allow you to do that... You have to give an undertaking otherwise, we have to pass an order," the CJI said.
Last year, the appellate tribunal had set aside the CCI’s direction barring Meta and WhatsApp from sharing user data with other Meta group entities for advertising purposes for five years. However, it retained the monetary penalty of Rs 213.14 crore and upheld the remaining directions issued by the competition watchdog.
The CCI had found that WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy followed a “take-it-or-leave-it” approach, which it said amounted to abuse of dominance in the market for over-the-top messaging services.
According to the regulator, the policy compelled users to agree to data sharing with other Meta companies as a condition for continued access to WhatsApp.
A two-member NCLAT Bench, comprising chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and technical member Arun Baroka, had, however, overturned the CCI’s finding that Meta used its dominance in the messaging market to reinforce its position in online advertising.
Earlier, in January 2025, the tribunal had granted interim relief to Meta and WhatsApp by staying the five-year data-sharing ban, observing that such a restriction could disrupt WhatsApp’s free-to-use business model.
The dispute traces its origins to January 2021, when WhatsApp introduced an updated privacy policy mandating data sharing with Meta group firms. The CCI took suo motu cognisance of the move, noting that the update effectively eliminated users’ ability to opt out of data sharing.
In its November 2024 order, the CCI imposed a Rs 213.14 crore fine on Meta and WhatsApp, barred them from sharing user data with Meta or its affiliates for five years, and directed the companies to clearly disclose the purpose behind each category of data collected. Meta Platforms and WhatsApp subsequently challenged the CCI’s order before the appellate tribunal.
PTI