WhatsApp and Facebook get snubbed by the Delhi High Court that allowed India’s competition regulator to probe Mark Zuckerberg’s companies

• The Delhi High Court has given the green light for the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to conduct its investigation against WhatsApp and Facebook.
• The CCI contends that excessive data collection and sharing between the two social media giants could be harmful to the competition environment.
• Facebook’s argument that an investigation could not be conducted against it because WhatsApp is a subsidiary was also rejected.

India’s competition watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), has gotten the green light from Delhi’s High Court to proceed with its investigation against WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook.

The two Mark Zuckerberg-owned enterprises have been under the spotlight ever since WhatsApp launched its new privacy policy in January 2021.

The two tech giants took CCI to court saying that a fresh investigation is not needed as there were already pending cases against the privacy policy in the Supreme Court. According to the bench headed by Justice Navin Chawla that is not reason enough to quash the CCI’s investigation.

Facebook’s argument that an investigation could not be conducted against it because WhatsApp is a subsidiary was also rejected.

It’s not about privacy, it’s about excessive data sharing
According to the CCI, the only reason this is being pegged as a ‘privacy’ issue is because the nomenclature in place is ‘privacy policy’. The actual issue is around excessive data sharing creating a monopolistic market.

The competition watchdog contends that WhatsApp is using its dominant position in the market to force users to share information with its parent company, Facebook.

And, this ‘excessive’ data collection will get in the way of maintaining a healthy competitive environment. New players, who may want to enter the market, will not be able to operate that the same scale.

For now, the CCI is free to go ahead with its investigation. Meanwhile, WhatsApp and Facebook will have another battle to face in the Supreme Court.

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