NEW DELHI — Messaging platform WhatsApp on Monday told the Supreme Court that it will comply with directions issued by the Competition Commission of India requiring the company to give users greater control over whether their data is shared with other Meta companies.
A special bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, allowed WhatsApp and its parent company Meta Platforms to withdraw their interim applications challenging the CCI penalty after the companies undertook to implement the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal order extending privacy and consent safeguards to advertising-related data sharing.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for WhatsApp and Meta, informed the court that the companies had filed an affidavit explaining their data-sharing practices and had decided not to press their request for a stay on the appellate tribunal’s order.
“We don’t want a stay now. We are complying with the directions,” Sibal told the court, adding that the companies would ensure full implementation of the tribunal’s directions by March 16, 2026.
Recording the submission, the CJI-led bench dismissed the interim applications as not pressed, while clarifying that the main appeals challenging the validity of WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy would continue to remain pending before the Supreme Court. The court also directed WhatsApp to file a compliance affidavit before the CCI in accordance with the NCLAT order.
In November 2025, the appellate tribunal upheld the CCI’s findings that WhatsApp had imposed unfair conditions on users through its 2021 privacy policy and that cross-platform data sharing strengthened Meta’s position in the online display advertising market. While it affirmed the Rs 213.14 crore penalty imposed on WhatsApp, the tribunal set aside the CCI’s direction that imposed a blanket five-year ban on sharing WhatsApp user data for advertising purposes.
The tribunal held that once users are provided with meaningful opt-in and opt-out choices, a complete prohibition on data sharing for advertising would not be justified. It granted WhatsApp three months to implement the revised framework.
Meta Platforms and WhatsApp subsequently filed appeals challenging the NCLAT judgment affirming the penalty, while the CCI filed a cross-appeal opposing the tribunal’s decision to allow limited data sharing for advertising purposes.
In earlier hearings, the Supreme Court had expressed serious concern over WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy and Meta’s data-sharing practices, observing that the platform could not be allowed to “play with the right to privacy” of Indian users.
While agreeing to admit the appeals, the CJI-led bench described the policy as a “take it or leave it” arrangement that offered consumers no real choice, noting that users were effectively forced to accept data sharing or stop using the service.
The court also flagged the impact of such policies on ordinary users, questioning whether a street vendor or economically weaker user could reasonably be expected to understand the complex and carefully drafted terms of the privacy policy.
Calling the alleged data practices deeply troubling, the Supreme Court had remarked that such conduct amounted to a “decent way of committing theft of private information” and warned that the right to privacy under the Constitution could not be undermined. (Source: IANS)
