Nigeria fines Meta over data violations. The US software giant Meta charged for exploiting its market dominance and exchanging personal data without consent. WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook are all owned by Meta.
Nigeria has fined US tech giant Meta $220 million (€202 million) for breaking antitrust, data protection, and consumer rights rules.
The parent company of WhatsApp, an instant messaging service, and the social media sites Facebook and Instagram is Meta.
Reasons Meta accusation
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) of Nigeria (Nigeria) accused Meta on Friday. As a result of engaging in discriminatory activities. Other accusation; abusing its market dominance, disclosing personal information about Nigerians without consent. Additionally, depriving them the ability to control the use of their data.
Even though, after beginning a 38-month probe in May 2021, it declared that it had “significant evidence on the record”.
According to FCCPC CEO Adamu Abdullahi, the commission’s investigations revealed Meta had participated in “invasive practices against data subjects in Nigeria.”
“Comply with the prevailing law. And cease the exploitation of Nigerian consumers and their market abuse,” Abdullahi said of the internet giant.
On the advice of the commission, the company directed to “desist from future similar or other conduct/practices that do not meet nationally applicable standards.”
According to the FCCPC, Meta got informed of the commission’s inquiries into the company. However, it claimed that Meta’s “remedy package” fell short of resolving the original issues. Nigeria fines Meta over data violations.
News agencies’ inquiries for comment from Meta, however not immediately answered.
Meta platforms that are well-liked in Nigeria
Further more, out of almost 200 million inhabitants, Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, has about 164 million internet subscribers.
The majority of Nigerians—roughly 75%—are under 24 years old. Besides, many of them have grown up on social media. Consequently, Nigeria, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are some of the most widely used social media networks.
In December, the nation’s minister of communication, Bosun Tijani, said that there were “over 51 million WhatsApp users.”
The Nigerian government is not the first to criticize Meta. Other countries recently has raise concern for violating antitrust laws and privacy policies. Likewise, the European Union accused Meta earlier this month of violating its tech standards. Also read on