Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it disagreed with an order by India's competition watchdog that placed data-sharing restrictions between WhatsApp and its other applications and said it would legally challenge the order.

Meta has been penalised Rs 213.14 crore by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), citing abuse of its market dominance through WhatsApp's controversial 2021 privacy policy. The policy, which mandated extensive data sharing between WhatsApp and other Meta entities, drew regulatory ire for its restrictive nature.

In January 2021, WhatsApp had notified users that it was updating its privacy policy – which was mandatory for them to accept – with an expanded scope of data collection and data sharing between Meta companies.

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 has announced plans to legally challenge the Indian Competition Commission's order restricting data sharing between WhatsApp and other Meta apps. The ruling imposed a USD 25.4 mn fine, to prevent WhatsApp from sharing user data for advertising across Meta platforms for 5 years.

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.

The Commission also issued cease-and-desist directions, asking Meta and WhatsApp to implement certain behavioural remedies within a defined timeline.

Meta defends WhatsApp's privacy policy update. The spokesperson clarified that the 2021 update didn't change the privacy of people's personal messages. They stressed it was pitche

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.”

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.