An Indian appeals court has issued a temporary stay on a decision by the country’s antitrust authority that had imposed a five-year ban on data sharing between WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta Platforms. This ruling, which was initially handed down by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), sought to address concerns about potential misuse of user data and the dominance of Meta’s services in India’s digital market.
The CCI’s original decision stemmed from an investigation into WhatsApp’s privacy policy changes, which allegedly allowed the company to share data with other Meta-owned services, including Facebook, without proper user consent. The regulator viewed this as potentially anti-competitive, with the risk of Meta leveraging its market power to further consolidate its control over user data.
The appeals court’s suspension means that WhatsApp is not yet required to comply with the ban, which would have prohibited the company from sharing user data with Meta’s other platforms for the next five years. The court’s ruling is considered a temporary reprieve for WhatsApp, pending further legal proceedings.
This development comes as the Indian government and regulators continue to scrutinize the data practices of major tech companies, particularly those with significant user bases like WhatsApp and Facebook. With over 400 million users in India, WhatsApp is a key player in the country’s digital communications landscape, making the outcome of this case potentially impactful on how digital platforms operate in the region.
Further hearings are expected as the case progresses through the legal system.
