The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), has said that the 200 million dollar 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, Dr Adamu Abdullahi, said this at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said that the penalty was slammed on the companies after three years of intensive investigations.
Abdullahi said the companies were found culpable of 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 should 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.
According to Abdullahi, the Commission is already getting international accolades for the investigation and sanction.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
