Meta to appeal against the Rs 213.14 crore penalty imposed on it by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for charges of abusing its dominant position.
On Tuesday, Meta said it disagrees with the Competition Commission of India’s decision to slap a penalty and plans to appeal against the CCI order.
A Meta spokesperson in a statement argued that the 2021 update did not change the privacy of people’s personal messages and was offered as a choice for users at the time.
“We also ensured no one would have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of the WhatsApp service because of this update,” the spokesperson added.
“The update was about introducing optional business features on WhatsApp, and provided further transparency about how we collect and use data. And since that time, WhatsApp has been incredibly valuable to people and businesses, enabling organizations and government institutions to deliver citizen services through COVID and beyond, and as well as supporting small businesses, all of which furthers the Indian economy. WhatsApp is able to do all of this because it offers services supported by Meta.”
The Meta spokesperson said they are committed to finding a path forward that allows them to continue providing the experiences that people and businesses have come to expect from them.
According to CCI, the case pertains to the implementation of WhatsApp’s 2021 Privacy Policy, which involved controversial data collection and sharing practices with other Meta entities.
