The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Nigeria’s consumer rights agency, responded on Saturday to Meta’s claim that it might have to shut down its services in Nigeria due to a recent court order requiring the company to pay $290 million in fines. The FCCPC accused Meta of attempting to provoke a negative public reaction and exert pressure on the commission to reconsider its stance.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, lost its case at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, where it was hit with fines by three Nigerian regulatory bodies. The penalties have led Meta to reconsider its operations in the country.
The fines include $220 million from the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for alleged anti-competitive practices; $37.5 million from the Advertising Regulatory Council for unauthorised ads; and $32.8 million from the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC) for data privacy violations.
Violations committed by Meta
The FCCPC found that Meta had violated several regulations, including the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) of 2018. These violations included discriminating against Nigerian users compared to those in other countries, denying Nigerians control over their personal data, sharing and transferring Nigerian user data without consent, and abusing their dominant market position by enforcing unfair privacy policies.
The FCCPC pointed out that Meta recently faced a $1.3 billion fine from the European Commission for breaching data privacy laws, and had previously been fined $1.5 billion in Texas for similar violations. The commission noted that Meta faced similar penalties in other countries, including South Korea, France, Australia, and India, without threatening to leave those markets.
“Elsewhere in India, South Korea, France and Australia, Meta had faced varying penalties for similar breaches. But Meta never resorted to the blackmail of threatening to exit those countries. They obeyed,” the FCCPC wrote in a statement.
Meta mandated to obey Nigerian law
The Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal upheld the FCCPC’s final order, which requires Meta to comply with Nigerian law, cease exploiting Nigerian consumers, adjust its business practices to align with Nigerian standards, and respect consumer rights in accordance with global best practices.
“Threatening to leave Nigeria does not absolve Meta of liabilities for the outcome of a judicial process,” the commission added.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the FCCPC remains committed in its pursuit of consumer protection and data privacy towards ensuring a fairer digital market in Nigeria.”