WhatsApp May Exit Nigeria Over $220m Fine

WhatsApp may halt operations in Nigeria owing to regulatory requirements.

One week ago, Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) fined WhatsApp $220 million for violating data privacy.

According to individuals close to the matter, Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, is considering discontinuing certain services in Nigeria.

Along with the significant punishment, the FCCPC ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with other Facebook firms and third parties without specific user consent.

The commission also demands WhatsApp to reveal information regarding its data gathering practices and give users more control over their data usage.

In response, a WhatsApp spokesperson emailed TechCabal, “We want to be clear that, technically, based on the order, it would be impossible to provide WhatsApp in Nigeria or globally.”

The spokesman criticised the FCCPC’s ruling as faulty, claiming that it misrepresents WhatsApp’s data processing and would need extensive changes to the platform’s infrastructure.

Meta has not responded to the FCCPC’s charges about user opt-out options in the 2021 privacy policy, but insists that the change does not include exchanging user data.

The company’s privacy policy states, “While traditionally mobile carriers and operators store this information, we believe that keeping these records for two billion users would be both a privacy and security risk and we don’t do it.”

The prospective suspension of WhatsApp might have serious consequences for individuals and small businesses in Nigeria, many of whom rely on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook for consumer engagement.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli