The $200 million fine imposed on Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp LLC, according to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), was the result of discriminatory practices and legally sanctioned offenses.
At a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Dr. Adamu Abdullahi, the acting Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, stated that the fine was imposed on the corporations following three years of thorough investigations.
According to Abdullahi, the corporations were found guilty of denying the right to self-determination as well as the unlawful transfer and sharing of personal data, which is not customary in other countries for Nigerian data subjects.
According to him, the corporations offered data subjects in other countries the choice of whether or not their data would be shared.
”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 scenarios where you have the choice of saying yes or no; 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.”
Regarding his accomplishments during his seven-month term as the Commission’s acting executive vice chairman, he stated that the FCCPC put policies in place to prevent price gouging, encourage fair competition, and safeguard consumers.
According to Abdullahi, the Commission also reviewed the stand-alone consumer education curricula used in secondary schools around the nation.
He noted that in order to strengthen their competence and give them more authority as local consumer protection advocates, the Commission created sensitization programs for traditional and religious leaders as well as other stakeholders.
According to him, the most common consumer complaints in the electricity industry include exploitative billing, unlawful disconnection, non-metering of customers, a 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.
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 reports that the FCCPC published its final order, in which it imposed 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 Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
