Meta & CCI: Will the upcoming data protection rules affect this case? NCLAT decided in May
The National Corporate Legal Appeal Tribunal will decide on May 13 whether to injunction with the Indian Competition Commission’s data sharing practices before or after the enforcement of the new digital personal data protection rules.
Ashok Bhushan, chairman of the Court of Appeals, Chairman Ashok Bhushan, said on Monday that there will be an examination of overlap between CCI jurisdiction and the upcoming data protection framework.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared in Meta, who believes the new rules will govern data privacy and sharing, making it more appropriate to hear the case after law enforcement. META insists that CCI lacks the power to rule privacy policy matters, which will fall under the upcoming data protection rules.
However, CCI’s lawyers objected to any delays and asserted that the case should be carried out immediately without waiting for new regulations.
If the Court of Appeal finds overlap and decides that the case can only be heard after the new provisions come into effect, it will be a major victory in this legal battle.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released the draft digital personal data protection rules for 2025 in January, inviting public feedback. The rule will promote the implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023, by developing guidelines for how companies (data trusts) process personal data and what rights (data principals) have on their information (data custodians).
The draft rules focus on better data protection, accountability and transparency in ways that digital personal data is collected, stored and shared. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in January that the government aims to implement the rules by mid-2025.
META’s Legal Challenge
Meta ₹A fine of 21.3 billion.
The Court of Appeal temporarily lifted the five-year injunction imposed by the CCI in January, but did not stop at the penalty part of the ruling. Meta is commanded to deposit 50% of the ₹A fine of 2.13 billion to secure accommodation has been paid 25% of the CCI. If Meta wins the case, the deposit will be refunded.
Meta also argues that restricting data sharing will disrupt businesses that rely on WhatsApp interactions for targeted advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Mehta further stated that the implementation of the CCI remedy could force it to suspend or regress key features, affecting its operations in India.
CCI ruled WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy update helped Meta strengthen its strengths in messaging and online advertising (Facebook and Instagram). Regulators consider the policy unfair because it forces users to accept metadata sharing without an exit option, violating user autonomy and competition norms.
CCI also prohibits WhatsApp from allowing users to access the application’s data sharing, thus enhancing the importance of user consent.
