NEW DELHI: Social media giants Meta and WhatsApp on Monday told the Supreme Court that they will not insist on seeking a stay from the Appellate Company Law Tribunal (NCLAT) order banning them from sharing data on non-core services and direct them to provide users with a transparent opt-out option to withdraw consent for such sharing.Two weeks after the SC came down heavily on their complex procedures for data sharing and withdrawal of user consent, senior advocate Kapil Sibal informed a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi that Meta and WhatsApp will fully comply with NCLAT directions in both respects within three months, i.e. March 16.While the bench disposed of two petitions by Meta and WhatsApp seeking stay on the NCLAT order, Competition Commission of India (CCI) senior advocate Madhavi Divan said the main issue was the direction of the regulator to impose a five-year ban on data sharing for advertising purposes. The SC has posted further hearing on April 19. Sibal tried to sidestep the issue, first arguing that the decision could be decided at the final hearing of appeals filed by Meta, WhatsApp and CCI, and later arguing that the law requires the companies to comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act by June 2027. Divan said NCLAT has been one of the important directives issued by the regulator to WhatsApp not to share user data collected on its platform with other Meta companies or Meta company products for advertising purposes for five years.This needs to be adjudicated and NCLAT’s direction on the issue needs to be put on hold, she said. She added that while NCLAT agreed with the CCI that the two companies enjoyed a dominant position in the market and cross-sharing of data between them enhanced Meta’s competitive advantage in the display advertising market, it created a hurdle for rivals who did not have access to WhatsApp data.The CCI said that if the five-year advertising data sharing ban is not enforced, “it will cause severe damage to the OTT messaging app market on smartphones and the Indian online display advertising market.”
