The Parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, Meta Platforms Inc., has been fined $220 million by the Federal Government for using its dominating market position to commit discriminatory activities against Nigerian users and for unauthorisedly appropriating personal data without authorization.
According to the statement by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Friday, between May 2021 and December 2023, the investigation closely examined Meta’s privacy policies and practices, uncovering multiple infringements of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).
These offenses include the misuse of Meta’s strong market position, discriminatory actions towards Nigerian users, and the unlawful acquisition of personal data without user authorization.
According to the investigation’s results, Meta used abusive and intrusive tactics against Nigerian data subjects, including unauthorized cross-border data transfers and pressuring users to agree to exploitative privacy rules. Meta was not able to convince the regulatory organizations of their position even though they were given many chances to do so.
