.By Jane Okafor, Abuja
Embattled Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has threatened to shut down operations in Nigeria after a tribunal ruling upheld a $220 million fine imposed on it in July 2024 by Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
Beside the fine, the FCCPC also ordered Meta to pay $35,000 to cover the “cost of investigation.”
Other Nigerian agencies did not spare Meta as each of some of them taking turn to levy penalties.
The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) fined Meta N60 billion ($37.5 million), and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission demanded $32.8 million, bringing the total to a whopping $290.3 million.
Reeling from the huge burden of fines, Meta warned that it may exit Nigeria and move elsewhere.
“The applicant may be forced to effectively shut down the Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in order to mitigate the risk of enforcement measures,” Meta said in court filings.
But the FCCPC said that resorting to blackmail or threatening to exit Nigeria won’t absolve the Meta of liability, insisting that the company must pay the imposed fines.
Speaking through its Director, Corporate Affairs unit, Ondaje Ijagwu, in a statement on Saturday, FCCPC said in a statement that the tribunal had “ruled that the multiple actions by WhatsApp and Meta, for which the Commission made findings of violations, were correctly identified, and that the Commission did not err in making those findings.”
The regulatory agency accused Meta of violating national data protection and consumer rights laws via its Facebook and WhatsApp platforms.
The Daily Crucible reports that the agency in a joint investigation with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, conducted between May 2021 and December 2023, discovered “invasive practices against data subjects/consumers in Nigeria.”
The agency alleged discriminatory conduct, abuse of market dominance, unauthorised data sharing, and denying Nigerians control over their personal information.
Following the initial fine in July, a WhatsApp disagreed with decision. “We disagree with this decision as well as the fine,” it stated. To
But Meta faced similar regulatory pressure in Europe, where the EU fined it €200 million for its controversial “pay or consent” policy that breached data privacy rules on Facebook and Instagram.
FCCPC statement through Ondaje Ijagwu reads in full: “WhatsApp’s claim that it may be forced to exit Nigeria due to FCCPC’s recent order appears to be a calculated move aimed at inducing negative public reaction and potentially pressuring the FCCPC to reconsider its decision.
“The FCCPC investigated Meta Platforms and WhatsApp (jointly referred to as “Meta Parties”) for allegedly violating the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).
“The Commission found that Meta Parties engaged in multiple and repeated infringements of the FCCPA (2018) and the NDPR. These infringements included denying Nigerians the right to control their personal data, transferring and sharing Nigerian user data without authorisation, discriminating against Nigerian users compared to users in other jurisdictions and abusing their dominant market position by forcing unfair privacy policies.
“Interestingly, Meta had been fined for similar breaches in Texas ($1.5b) and only recently was asked to pay $1.3 Billion for violating E.U. Data Privacy Rules. Elsewhere in India, South Korea, France and Australia, Meta had faced varying penalties for similar breaches. But Meta never resorted to the blackmail of threatening to exit those countries. They obeyed.
“The recent affirmation of FCCPC’s final order by the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal requires Meta Parties to take steps to comply with Nigerian law, stop exploiting Nigerian consumers, change their practices to meet Nigerian standards and respect consumer rights, consistent with international best practices.
“Threatening to leave Nigeria does not absolve Meta of liabilities for the outcome of a judicial process.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the FCCPC remains committed in its pursuit of consumer protection and data privacy towards ensuring a fairer digital market in Nigeria,” Ijagwu stated.
