The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has fined social media platform Meta 213.14 crore rupees over the 2021 WhatsApp privacy policy update.

The CCI has directed WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with other Meta-owned applications for advertising purposes for the next five years. The CCI also said that sharing of user data for purposes other than providing WhatsApp services shall not be made a precondition for users to access the WhatsApp service in India.

The CCI launched an investigation into the policy in March 2021, following global criticism over its data-sharing provisions. The policy allowed WhatsApp to share user information with Facebook and its subsidiaries, raising concerns about user privacy and data misuse.