Nigeria Fines Meta $220 Million for Facebook and WhatsApp 'Violations'

By Al Mayadeen English

20 Jul 2024 15:55

Meta has been accused of engaging in discriminatory practices, abusing its market dominance, disclosing Nigerians' personal data without consent, and restricting the citizens' right to determine how their data is used. 

Meta has been issued a $220 million fine for "multiple and repeated" violations of Nigeria's data protection and consumer rights laws on Facebook and Whatsapp, the country's Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) accused on Friday.

FCCPC chief executive officer Adamu Abdullahi made allegations against the tech company for engaging in discriminatory practices, abusing its market dominance, disclosing Nigerians' personal data without consent, and restricting the citizens' right to determine how their data is used.

These accusations stem from an investigation conducted by the FCCPC collaboration with the Nigerian Data Protection Commission between May 2021 and December 2021, concluding Meta partook in "invasive practices against data subjects/consumers in Nigeria."

Abdullahi stressed that Meta must "comply with prevailing law and cease the exploitation of Nigerian consumers and their market abuse," demanding the company to "desist from future similar or other conduct/practices that do not meet nationally applicable standards." 

Although Facebook's parent company was aware of the 38-month investigation, they did not immediately respond to the issued fine.

Nigeria has a large population of 200 million people, where approximately 75% of its residents are under the age of 24, a generation highly connected to social media.

The country's National Communication Commission (NCC) shared figures on its website showcasing, as of March, that Nigeria had around 164.3 million internet subscriptions. 

Meta's platforms, namely WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, rank among the most popular social media platforms in the country.

There are "over 51 million WhatsApp users in Nigeria," the minister for communication and the digital economy Bosun Tijani said in December.  

Meta's scandal with the EU

Meta has had multiple instances where they have been accused of breaching security rules. Back in July, the Europen Union accused the tech company of violating its digital rules, resulting in potential billion-euro fines.

The European Commission informed Meta (banned in Russia for extremism) of its preliminary findings that the "pay or consent" advertising model did not comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to maintain fair competition in EU digital markets.

In March, the EU Commission began investigating tech giants like Alphabet, Apple, and Meta for alleged violations of the Digital Markets Act.

The EU Commission determined that Meta's "pay or consent" advertising model fails to comply with the DMA as it "does not meet the necessary requirements," according to the statement.