Nigerian govt fines Meta, WhatsApp $220m for discriminatory practices

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has fined the United States-based social media platforms, Meta and WhatsApp $220 million for discriminatory practices and other offences.

The acting Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Adamu Abdullahi disclosed this at a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said it took FCCPC three years of intensive investigations to arrive at the decision.

Abdullahi said the companies were also found culpable for denying Nigerians the right to self-determination, unauthorised transfer, and sharing of personal data, which was not the practice in other climes.

The FCCPC boss noted that Meta and WhatsApp gave data subjects in other climes options to decide whether their data would be shared or not.

He said: “Only last week, FCCPC issued a final order and imposed a monetary penalty of $220 million against Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp LLC over discriminatory practices in Nigeria.

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“This is an investigation that has taken place for the past three years, and I was part of it.

“We found out that when you register for the first time to join WhatsApp, there is a column that says you have agreed for your data to be shared for research.

“That is opposed to other climes where you have the choice of saying yes or no. That is discriminatory at the first instance.

“Secondly, we found out that they share our data across platforms.”

He said the commission was already getting international accolades for the investigation and sanction.

“We are getting international accolades that at last, there is a competition authority in Africa that is standing against all these anti-competitive practices by multinational agencies,” Abdullahi added.

By: Babajide Okeowo

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