The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has clarified its reason for slamming a USD 200 million sanction on WhatsApp and, at large, the Meta brand. The Nigerian watchdog noted that Meta had violated the data protection and other consumer rights of Nigerians through its various platforms.
This clarification came following what the government agency, FCCPC described as ‘WhatsApp’s claim that it may be forced to exit Nigeria due to FCCPC’s recent order appears to be a strategic move aimed at influencing public opinion and potentially pressuring the FCCPC to reconsider its decision.’
TheMediaGood Newspaper gathered through a press release promoted on FCCPC’s official handle on microblogging platform, X (formerly Twitter) that ‘The FCCPC investigated Meta Platforms and WhatsApp (jointly referred to as “Meta Parties”) for allegedly violating the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).’
‘The Commission found that Meta Parties engaged in multiple and repeated infringements of the FCCPA and the NDPR. These infringements included denying Nigerians the right to control their personal data, transferring and sharing Nigerian user data without authorisation, discriminating against Nigerian users compared to users in other jurisdictions and abusing their dominant market position by forcing unfair privacy policies. The final order requires Meta Parties to take steps to comply with Nigerian law, stop exploiting Nigerian consumers, change their practices to meet Nigerian standards and respect consumer rights.’
‘To deter future violations and ensure accountability for the alleged infringements the FCCPC also imposed a monetary penalty of $220 million. The FCCPC’s actions are based on legitimate concerns about consumer protection and data privacy and the order is a positive step towards a fairer digital market in Nigeria. Similar measures are taken in other jurisdictions without forcing companies to leave the market. The case of Nigeria will not be different.
Expanding on the irregularities by WhatsApp, FCCPC said about “Denying Nigerians right to control their personal data” that WhatsApp pre-ticked terms and conditions for Nigerian users, prevented them from opting out of data sharing, and shared their data without explicit consent.
On “Discriminating against Nigerian users”, FCCPC said: ‘This entailed treating Nigerian consumers differently compared to consumers in other jurisdictions with comparable data protection standards and laws.’
And on ‘Which Nigerian law is meta breaking?!’, FCCPC remarked that ‘WhatsApp’s actions constituted multiple and continuing violations of the abuse of dominance provisions in the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), as well as the privacy rules outlined in the Nigeria Data Protection Regulations (NDPR).’