India imposes 25.4 mln USD fine on WhatsApp for antitrust violation

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has levied a fine of 25.4 million U.S. dollars for antitrust violations related to WhatsApp's controversial 2021 privacy policy, TechCrunch reported Monday.

It also ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with other Meta units for advertising purposes for five years.

The CCI began the investigation in 2021, found that WhatsApp's "take-it-or-leave-it" privacy update constituted an abuse of Meta's dominant position by forcing users to accept expanded data collection without an opt-out option.

"Sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta companies ... for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp service shall not be made a condition for users to access WhatsApp Service in India," the CCI said.

It concluded that WhatsApp's mandatory data-sharing created entry barriers for Meta's rivals and resulted in denial of market access in the display advertising market.

Meta-owned WhatsApp has more than 450 million monthly active users in India.