Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it plans to appeal an order by India's competition watchdog that restricts the U.S. tech firm from sharing data for advertising between WhatsApp and its other applications and also imposed a $25.

India’s competition watchdog has ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with other Meta units for advertising purposes for five years and also levied a fine of $25.4 million for antitrust violations related to WhatsApp’s controversial 2021 privacy policy.

Meta today said it “disagrees” with the Competition Commission of India’s decision to impose a fine of Rs 213.14 crore on the social media company.

India's competition watchdog directed WhatsApp to refrain from sharing user data for advertising purposes with other applications owned by Meta for a period of five years and fined the U.S. tech giant $25.

The Competition Commission of India slapped Meta with a INR2.1 billion penalty for abusing its dominant position in messaging and advertising.

According to the CCI order, “The 2021 policy update by WhatsApp on a ‘take it-or-leave-it’ basis constitutes an imposition of unfair conditions under the Act, as it compels all users to accept expanded data collection terms and sharing of data within Meta Group without any opt-out.”

Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, has expressed its disagreement with the recent ruling by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and announced plans to appeal. The decision, which penalised Meta Rs 213.14 crore, revolves around WhatsApp’s controversial 2021 privacy policy update.

The antitrust watchdog on Monday said Meta has abused its dominant position in the market, explaining that this fine relates to how WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy was implemented and how user data was collected and shared with other Meta companies.

Tech giants, including Apple and Meta, face new regulatory challenges with India’s proposed EU-like antitrust law. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The messenger service Whatsapp is not allowed to share user data with other applications of its parent company Meta for advertising purposes in India for five years. This was decided by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday and imposed a fine of 213.14 million rupees (around 24 million euros) on the company for antitrust violations.

Meta is set to challenge a ₹213.14 crore fine imposed by the CCI over its WhatsApp privacy policy update. The company argues the policy was optional and transparent, opposing claims of anti-competitive practices.