The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has accused WhatsApp of attempting to manipulate public sentiment by threatening to exit Nigeria following a $290 million fine imposed on its parent company, Meta Platforms, for multiple regulatory breaches.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the FCCPC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, the commission said the fine followed an extensive investigation into violations of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) by Meta and WhatsApp, collectively referred to as the “Meta Parties.”
According to the FCCPC, Meta was found guilty of repeated infringements, including unauthorized data sharing, denial of users’ data control rights, discriminatory practices against Nigerian users, and abuse of its dominant market position through the imposition of unfair privacy policies.
The commission noted that Meta had faced similar sanctions in other countries, including fines of $1.5 billion in Texas and $1.3 billion in the European Union, as well as penalties in India, South Korea, France, and Australia, without threatening to exit those markets. The FCCPC characterized WhatsApp’s exit warning as an attempt to exert undue pressure on the commission’s enforcement process.
