Nigeria fines Meta $220 mn for 'violations'

Lagos: Nigeria has issued a $220 million fine against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and WhatsApp, for multiple and repeated violations. Th...

Lagos: Nigeria has issued a $220 million fine against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and WhatsApp, for "multiple and repeated" violations.

The country's Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Friday accused Meta of violating the country's data protection and consumer rights laws on Facebook and WhatsApp.

The FCCPC's chief executive officer Adamu Abdullahi said the investigations the commission carried out in conjunction with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission between May 2021 and December 2023 showed that it engaged in "invasive practices against data subjects/consumers in Nigeria".

Abdullahi accused Meta of discriminatory practices, abuse of market dominance, sharing Nigerians' personal data without authorisation and denying Nigerians the right to determine how their data are used.

Apart from the hefty fine, the FCCPC boss insisted that Meta must "comply with prevailing law and cease the exploitation of Nigerian consumers and their market abuse".