The Nigerian government has imposed a $220 million fine on US-based tech firm Meta, the owners of Facebook and WhatsApp, for violating consumer rights and data protection laws.
The announcement was made by the acting Executive Vice Chairman of Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Babatunde Irukera, in a statement on Friday.
The fine follows years of investigations by the FCCPC, which found that Meta’s data-sharing practices on its social platforms breached local consumer and privacy laws.
The commission accused Meta of appropriating the data of Nigerian users without their consent, abusing its market dominance by enforcing exploitative privacy policies, and subjecting Nigerians to discriminatory treatment compared to users in other jurisdictions with similar regulations.
“The totality of the investigation has concluded that Meta, over a protracted period, has engaged in conduct that constituted multiple and repeated, as well as continuing infringements, particularly, but not limited to, abusive and invasive practices against data subjects in Nigeria,” Irukera stated.
The investigations, conducted jointly with Nigeria’s Data Protection Commission, spanned over 38 months. They revealed that Meta’s policies do not allow users the option or opportunity to self-determine or withhold consent to the gathering, use, and sharing of personal data.
“Being satisfied with the significant evidence on record, and that Meta has been provided every opportunity to articulate any position, representations, refutations, explanations, or defenses of their conduct, the Commission has now entered a final order and issued a penalty against Meta,” Irukera added.
Meta has yet to respond to the sanction.
