WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta Platforms Incorporated, have been fined $220 million by the Nigerian Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal.
Due to allegations of discriminatory data practices against Nigerian consumers, WhatsApp and Meta were fined by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
In the historic decision, the tribunal denied WhatsApp and Meta’s appeal and mandated that they pay an extra $35,000 to the FCCPC to cover the cost of the investigation.
Thomas Okosun led the three-member panel that rendered the decision, which upheld the FCCPC penalty and required that both charges be paid within the following sixty days.
Meta and WhatsApp contest FCCPC fines
Represented by Professor Gbolahan Elias (SAN), WhatsApp and Meta disputed the FCCPC’s punishment, arguing that its guidelines were unclear, unworkable, and in violation of Nigerian law.
22 grounds were listed in their appeal, including allegations of procedural flaws, ambiguous directives, and unreasonable data-sharing mandates.
Both parties further stated that they were not given a fair hearing in the procedure and were unaware of the grounds used to determine the penalties.
They maintained that Meta had not exploited its market dominance because users had other options, such as TikTok and Google Meet, and that the order to create consent mechanisms for every user data point processed in Nigeria was neither practical nor economical.
Babatunde Irukera (SAN), the FCCPC’s attorney who is also an immediate past Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the FCCPC, said that the fines were remedial rather than punitive and intended to curb Meta’s practice of permitting unapproved access to and abuse of private data, which is against consumer rights.
Irukera made the case that such practices were discriminatory in Nigeria and cited international legislation that can be used as support for the regulatory issue.
Tribunal rulings in Meta v. FCCPC and WhatsApp In its decision, the Tribunal emphasized that the FCCPC was operating within the authority provided by the Evidence Act and the FCCPC Act.
According to News Central TV, the Tribunal further stated that as the appellants were given a fair hearing, there was no mistake in the FCCPC’s rules and fines.
Additionally, the Tribunal gave Meta and WhatsApp the following orders:
Nigerian users’ freedom to manage the sharing of their data must be restored immediately by Meta.
Meta must provide the FCCPC with a letter of conformity by July 1, 2025.
Meta has ten days to submit and publish a draft user data policy to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and the FCCPC.
Meta must go back to its 2016 data-sharing structure and stop giving Facebook and other third parties access to Nigerian user information.
WhatsApp users in Nigeria must give their express consent before their data is connected to Facebook or any other third-party site.
Proof of compliance with these rules must be provided by Meta. Meta is required to pay back $35,000 to the FCCPC for the costs of the investigation.
No later than sixty days after April 30, 2025, the $220 million fee must be paid.
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