An Indian court on Thursday suspended a ban that would have prevented WhatsApp from sharing user data with parent company Meta, handing a significant victory to Mark Zuckerberg’s social media empire in its biggest market by users. A ruling by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal temporarily lifted a five-year ban imposed by India’s antitrust regulator, which accused WhatsApp of abusing market dominance through its 2021 privacy policy. India is the largest market for Meta and WhatsApp. More than 700 million users in India use WhatsApp every month, according to insights from Sensor Tower. In November, the Competition Commission of India ruled that WhatsApp’s “take-it-or-leave-it” privacy update was an abuse of Meta’s dominant position by forcing users to accept expanded data collection without the option to opt out. At the time, watchdogs found Meta dominant in two key markets in India: so-called “over-the-top” messaging apps via smartphones, and online display advertising. While upholding the ban on Thursday, the court ordered Meta to deposit about $12.35 million – half of the larger penalty – within two weeks. The court will next hear the case on March 17. The court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, expressed concern that the five-year ban could threaten the business model of WhatsApp, which provides free messaging services to users. Meta’s lawyers argued that India’s upcoming digital privacy law, expected to come into force later this year, should regulate the matter rather than competition rules. “We welcome the NCLAT’s decision to grant a partial stay to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) order. While we will evaluate our next steps, our focus remains on finding a way forward that supports the millions of businesses that rely on our platform for growth and innovation as well providing the high-quality experience people expect from WhatsApp,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. The dispute began when WhatsApp required users to accept increased data sharing with the Meta platform or risk losing access to the messaging service. While European users can opt out of such sharing, Indian users cannot – a difference that regulators have found problematic.
