Why we fined Meta, WhatsApp $200 million — FCCPC

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says the $200 million fine against Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp LLC was based on discriminatory practices and sanctionable offences committed.

The acting Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Adamu Abdullahi, said at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday that the penalty was slammed on the companies after three years of intensive investigations.

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

He said the companies gave options to data subjects in other climes to decide whether their data would be shared or not.

”Only last week, FCCPC issued a final order and imposed a monetary penalty of $220,000,000.00 (two hundred and twenty million USD) against Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp LLC over discriminatory practices in Nigeria.

”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 so, that is discriminatory at the first instance.

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

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 multi-national agencies.”

On his achievements through his seven months tenure as the acting EVC of the commission, he said that FCCPC implemented measures to curb price gouging, promote fair competition and protect consumers.

Mr Abdullahi said the commission had also reviewed the stand-alone curriculum for consumer education in secondary schools across the country.

He said the commission introduced sensitisation for traditional and religious leaders and other stakeholders to enhance capacity and empower them as consumer protection agents in their localities.

Consumers’ complaints

According to him, the most common consumer complaints in the electricity industry include exploitative billing, unlawful disconnection, non-metering of customers, lack of transformers and other salient issues.

”Given the relevance of electricity as a critical utility, the Commission prioritised intervention in the industry to tackle prevailing issues and improve service delivery.

”This we did by implementing various programmes and initiatives aimed at promoting transparency and accountability in the sector,” he said.

Mr Abdullahi said the commission would continue to work tirelessly to promote competition and protect consumers to create a vibrant economy that would benefit both businesses and citizens.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FCCPC published its final order imposing a penalty of $220 million and a reimbursement fee of $35,000 on WhatsApp LLC and Meta Platforms, Inc.

The penalty is for violations of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), following a joint investigation conducted by the FCCPC and the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC).

(NAN)