Will comply with CCI's order on user data sharing: WhatsApp to Supreme Court

New Delhi: WhatsApp on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it will implement the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) order that asked it to give users a choice for sharing data with Meta Platforms Inc or other Meta companies.

The apex court also issued a notice to WhatsApp and its parent Meta Platforms on a plea for imposing a five-year ban on advertisements on WhatsApp, following a recommendation by the CCI .

While WhatsApp sought to withdraw an application challenging the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order that called for the enforcement of the CCI directions on requiring a user-consent-based framework for data sharing, a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant permitted WhatsApp and Meta Platforms to withdraw the applications on the issue.


The court further directed WhatsApp to file a compliance report on user-data-sharing directions before CCI as required by the NCLAT.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for WhatsApp and Meta, informed the top court that WhatsApp had filed an affidavit explaining its data-sharing practices and has also undertaken to implement NCLAT's directions within the timeline set by the appellate tribunal.

He submitted that WhatsApp would no longer press a stay of the NCLAT's directions since the company had decided to comply with them by March 16.

The SC will further hear the case next on March 16.

On February 3, the CJI-led bench had issued a stern warning to WhatsApp and Meta Platforms against sharing private user data for targeted advertising, saying that it will not allow them to play with the right to privacy of millions of their "silent consumers" in India.