New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday strongly criticised Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, over the messaging platform’s privacy practices, warning that the company would not be allowed to misuse Indian users’ data.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant made sharp observations while hearing a case linked to WhatsApp’s controversial 2021 privacy policy, saying, “You can’t play with privacy… we will not allow you to share a single digit of our data,” adding that the court would not tolerate exploitation of Indian citizens.
The matter relates to WhatsApp’s challenge to an order of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which had imposed an INR 213 crore penalty on the company. The fine was upheld by the appellate tribunal, even as it allowed WhatsApp to resume data-sharing with Meta companies for advertising purposes. The court was also hearing a cross-appeal by the CCI against that relief.
Appearing for the government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta described the policy as “exploitative”, arguing that user data was being shared for commercial gain. Responding sharply, the Chief Justice said, “If you can’t follow our Constitution, leave India. We won’t allow citizens’ privacy to be compromised.”
The bench questioned whether the policy could realistically be understood by ordinary users. “…a poor woman or a roadside vendor, or someone who only speaks Tamil… will they be able to understand?” the court asked.
When Meta’s lawyers pointed to an opt-out clause, the bench replied, “Sometimes even we have difficulty understanding your policies… so how will people living in rural Bihar understand them? This is a way of committing theft of private information. We won’t allow it.”
The Chief Justice also cited a personal example, “If a message is sent to a doctor on WhatsApp… that you are feeling under the weather… and the doctor sends some medicine prescriptions, immediately you start seeing ads…”
Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Akhil Sibal, appearing for Meta and WhatsApp, argued that all messages are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be accessed by the company.
Background: In November 2024, the CCI ruled that WhatsApp had abused its dominant position by forcing users to accept the 2021 policy to continue using the service, leading to the penalty. Meta and WhatsApp challenged the order in January 2025, and while the appellate tribunal later lifted a five-year restriction on data-sharing, it upheld the fine, which the company told the court has already been deposited.
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