$220m FCCPC fine: WhatsApp urgently applying to stay tribunal’s order, appeal ruling

By Funmilola Gboteku

The Messaging platform, WhatsApp on Saturday said it disagreed with the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal’s ruling in favour of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

The organisation said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.

It said that it would urgently apply to stay the order and appeal the ruling of Nigeria’s Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal against it.

NAN reports that the reaction from WhatsApp follows the tribunal’s decision on Friday, which upheld the $220 million penalty initially imposed on it by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

The tribunal ordered WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta Platforms Incorporated, to pay a significant penalty of $220 million, along with an additional $35,000 to the FCCPC.

The FCCPC had levied the fine against WhatsApp and Meta for alleged discriminatory data practices within Nigeria.

The tribunal also mandated a payment of $35,000 to the commission as reimbursement for the expenses incurred during its investigation into the social media conglomerate.

Furthermore, the tribunal dismissed the appeal filed by WhatsApp and Meta Platforms Incorporated challenging the $220 million penalty.

“We are urgently applying to stay the order and appeal today’s decision to avoid any impact to users,” WhatsApp said.

The company further emphasised the company’s disagreement with the tribunal’s order, noting that the FCCPC order contained multiple inaccuracies and misrepresented how WhatsApp worked.

Stating its position, the social media conglomerate said: “WhatsApp relies on limited data to run its service and keep users safe and it will be impossible to provide WhatsApp in Nigeria, or globally, without the infrastructure of our parent company, Meta. (NAN)