The Federal Government has imposed a $220 million fine on Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, for unauthorized appropriation of personal data without user consent, discriminatory practices against Nigerian users, and abuse of its dominant market position.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) announced the decision on Friday following a joint investigation with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC). The comprehensive 38-month investigation, covering the period from May 2021 to December 2023, revealed extensive and ongoing violations of Nigerian laws related to data privacy and market behavior.
The investigation scrutinized 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 violations include:
- Unauthorized appropriation of personal data without user consent.
- Discriminatory practices against Nigerian users.
- Abuse of Meta’s dominant market position.
The findings indicated that Meta engaged in abusive and invasive practices, such as transferring personal data across borders without authorization and coercing users into accepting exploitative privacy policies. Despite numerous opportunities to present their case, Meta’s defenses were deemed insufficient by the regulatory bodies.
The FCCPC’s final order mandates several corrective actions for Meta to comply with Nigerian laws, including ensuring Nigerian users’ right to data self-determination, ceasing unauthorized data transfers, and eliminating discriminatory practices. The order emphasizes the severity of the violations by imposing a $220 million penalty on Meta.
The FCCPC’s statement reads:
“Being satisfied with the significant evidence on the record, and that Meta Parties have been provided with every opportunity to articulate any position, representations, refutations, explanations, or defenses of their conduct and practices under law, the Commission has now entered a Final Order, and issued a penalty against Meta Parties. The Final Order more elaborately describes the specific conduct or practices of the Meta Parties, the relationship between Meta Parties concerning the infringements, particularly about:
- Denying Nigerian data subjects the right to self-determine.
- Unauthorized transfer and sharing of Nigerian data subjects’ personal data, including cross-border storage in violation of prevailing law.
- Discrimination and disparate treatment.
- Dominance.
- Abuse of dominance, and tying and bundling.
The Final Order of the Commission mandates steps and actions Meta Parties must take to comply with prevailing law and cease the exploitation of Nigerian consumers and their market abuse, as well as desist from future similar or other conduct/practices that do not meet nationally applicable standards and undermine the rights of consumers.
The Final Order also imposes a monetary penalty of Two Hundred and Twenty Million U.S. Dollars ($220,000,000.00) (at prevailing exchange rate where applicable), which penalty is in accordance with the FCCPA 2018, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection (Administrative Penalties) Regulations 2020 (APR).”
