New Delhi: WhatsApp has informed the Supreme Court that it will roll out a user-consent-based mechanism for sharing data with other Meta entities, marking a notable shift in its stance in the long-running legal challenge to its 2021 privacy policy. The commitment was recorded by a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, which allowed WhatsApp and Meta to withdraw interim pleas that had sought to pause enforcement of compliance directions issued by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
Appearing for the companies, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal submitted that WhatsApp has already placed on record an affidavit detailing its data-sharing architecture and will implement the user-choice framework in line with the appellate tribunal’s directions by March 5. The Court took note of the assurance and dismissed the interim applications as withdrawn, while directing the company to file a compliance report with the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The core appeal challenging the legality of the 2021 policy, however, remains pending before the Supreme Court.
The dispute stems from WhatsApp’s controversial 2021 policy update that required users to accept revised data-sharing terms to continue accessing the service. Unlike earlier provisions that allowed limited opt-outs from sharing data with Facebook—now Meta—the updated terms removed that flexibility, triggering regulatory scrutiny. In November 2024, the CCI ruled that the policy change constituted an abuse of dominance under the Competition Act, 2002, imposing a penalty of ₹213.14 crore and ordering WhatsApp to refrain from sharing user data with Meta companies for advertising purposes for five years.
While the NCLAT subsequently struck down some aspects of the CCI’s findings related to Meta’s alleged leveraging of dominance in the online display advertising market, it upheld the monetary penalty on WhatsApp and affirmed key compliance obligations. The appellate tribunal’s directions requiring a consent-based data-sharing framework are now set to be operationalised following WhatsApp’s undertaking to the Supreme Court.
The five-year prohibition on sharing WhatsApp user data with Meta entities for advertising continues to be under judicial consideration. During earlier hearings, the Supreme Court had voiced concern over the platform’s “take-it-or-leave-it” consent model, indicating that such design could amount to coerced consent for users, particularly businesses reliant on the messaging service.
The outcome of the case is being closely monitored across India’s technology and advertising industries. A final ruling could define how dominant digital platforms structure cross-service data integration and consent management, with implications for targeted advertising, competition law enforcement and the broader digital economy. Further hearings on WhatsApp’s substantive appeal are awaited.
