The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has disagreed with claims that its recent penalty order and fine on WhatsApp may force the platform out of Nigeria.
The commission also noted that WhatsApp’s claim that it may be forced out of Nigeria due to its recent order is aimed at influencing public opinion and “potentially pressuring the FCCPC to reconsider its decision.”
The regulator was responding to a report that revealed WhatsApp was considering withdrawing some of its services in the country. On Thursday, Techcabal reported that a WhatsApp spokesperson said, “We want to be really clear that technically, based on the order, it would be impossible to provide WhatsApp in Nigeria or globally.
“This order contains multiple inaccuracies and misrepresents how WhatsApp works. WhatsApp relies on limited data to run our service and keep users safe, and it would be impossible to provide WhatsApp in Nigeria or globally without Meta’s infrastructure. We are urgently appealing the order to avoid any impact on users.”
According to Yahoo Finance, 51 million Nigerians were on WhatsApp as of February 2024. In July, the FCCPC asked Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, to pay $220 million for an alleged data privacy breach.
According to the commission, Meta was found culpable of denying Nigerians the right to self-determine, unauthorised transfer and sharing of Nigerians data, discrimination and disparate treatment, abuse of dominance, and tying and bundling.
The FCCPC noted that its decision was reached after a 38-month joint investigation by it and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
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Responding to WhatsApp claims on Thursday, the commission noted that its actions were based on legitimate consumer protection and data privacy concerns. It highlighted that its final order requires Meta to comply with Nigerian consumers and meet local standards.
“Similar measures are taken in other jurisdictions without forcing companies to leave the market. The case of Nigeria will not be different,” the FCCPC added.
Meta is currently appealing its biggest fine in Africa, and a recent report revealed that the tech giant has cited 22 reasons, including vague directives, unjustifiable data-sharing orders, and procedural errors, why the case should be quashed.
Babatunde Irukera, the FCCPC’s former chairman, noted on X, “The same company just settled a Texas case for $1.4 billion and is currently facing regulatory action in at least a dozen nations, appealing large penalties in several countries. How many has it threatened to exit?”
