Exclusive-Meta warns India antitrust ruling could force rollback of features, hurt business Reuters

By Arpan Chaturvedi and Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Meta may have to “roll back or pause” some features in India because of an antitrust directive that barred messaging service WhatsApp from sharing user data with Meta for advertising purposes, the U.S. company said in a court filing seen by Reuters.

Meta is seeking to overturn a Competition Commission of India (CCI) directive in November that found the company abused its dominance and “forced” WhatsApp users to accept a 2021 privacy policy that allegedly expanded the collection and sharing of user data, giving it an unfair advantage over competitors.

The CCI imposed a $24.5 million fine and a five-year ban on data-sharing practices in India, Meta’s biggest market with more than 350 million Facebook (NASDAQ: ) users and more than 500 million people using WhatsApp.

Publicly, Meta defended its policy change and said it disagreed with the CCI’s order, but in its appeal it took a critical view of the watchdog’s functioning and detailed how upset the US company was by the CCI’s decision.

The company is concerned that a ban on WhatsApp’s WhatsApp-to-Meta sharing of user data will limit its ability to offer users personalized ads on Facebook and Instagram, according to a Reuters review of nearly 2,000 pages it has filed with an Indian appeals court since January. 3, which is not public.

WhatsApp publicly says it shares users’ phone numbers, transaction data, how they interact with businesses and mobile device information with Meta.

Detailing the ruling’s impact for the first time, Meta said in its filing that the data-sharing ban could mean an Indian fashion company would not be able to personalize ads on Facebook or Instagram based on their interaction with a WhatsApp user about a particular clothing line.

“Broadly interpreted, the implementation of the remedy will likely require Meta to restore or pause several features and products,” it said.

“This affects the ability of Meta and WhatsApp to remain commercially viable,” the company added, without quantifying any exact business impact in monetary terms.

Facebook’s registered entity that sells advertising inventory in India – Facebook India Online Services – reported revenue of $351 million in 2023-2024, the highest in at least five years.

India’s Court of Appeal will hear Meta’s statement on Thursday. While the case could take weeks or months, the court can put the CCI directive on hold in the meantime.

Meta and CCI did not respond to Reuters’ inquiries.

GLOBAL CHALLENGES

India’s antitrust concerns add to Meta’s global woes. In 2021, WhatsApp was accused of violating EU bloc law by not clarifying its policy changes in plain and understandable language. She later agreed to explain the changes to EU users.

The Indian case began in 2021 amid criticism of WhatsApp’s privacy policy changes. Meta told CCI that the changes were only to provide information about how the optional business messaging features work and did not expand its ability to collect and share data.

But the CCI disagreed.

His ruling in November said WhatsApp’s policy forces users to accept or risk losing access to the service and that it has no opt-out feature. The watchdog ordered WhatsApp to now allow users to decide whether they want WhatsApp to share data with Meta or not.

Meta, in its challenge before the Indian court, also took a critical view of the CCI and its functioning, arguing that the watchdog should have consulted Meta and WhatsApp before issuing directives to change the company’s behavior.

“The commission does not have the necessary technical expertise and knowledge to understand the consequences of legal remedies,” Meta said.