The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has imposed a $220,000,000 penalty against Meta Platforms Incorporated over alleged discriminatory practices against Nigerian data and consumers.
The penalty, disclosed a statement signed by Dr. Adamu Abdullahi, Acting Chief Executive Officer, FCCPC, yesterday, followed a joint investigation conducted by the Commission and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) into Meta platforms’ conduct, privacy policies, the operation thereof, and practices between May 2021 and December 2023, and over a period of 38 months.
According to the statement, on May 2021, the Commission had directed WhatsApp LLC and Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly called Facebook Inc.) to defend themselves regarding its investigative report which detailed how their conduct allegedly violated relevant data laws.
Meta was said to have provided some information in response to the requests and summons under the joint investigation.
“Meta Parties by themselves, and retained counsels have also repeatedly engaged with, and met with investigators and analysts from the Commission, and the NDPC, including as recently as April 4, 2024,” the statement added.
The Commission disclosed that the totality of the investigation has now concluded that Meta platforms over a protracted period of time have engaged in conduct that constitutes continuing infringements of the FCCPA and NDPR, “particularly, but not limited to abusive, and invasive practices against data subjects/consumers in Nigeria, such as appropriating personal data or information without consent, discriminatory practices against Nigerian data subjects/consumers or disparate treatment of consumers/data subjects compared with other jurisdictions with similar regulatory frameworks, abuse of dominant market position by forcing unscrupulous, exploitative, and non-compliant privacy policies which appropriated consumer personal information without the option or opportunity to self-determine or otherwise withhold or provide consent to the gathering, use, and/or sharing of such personal data.”
