You cannot escape the judicial order, out of Nigeria does not fulfill the responsibility, FCCPC warns Meta – Thage

By Ayo Kehinde

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) said that Meta Platforms Inc. cannot evade legal responsibility by threatening to leave Nigeria, insisting on the fact that stopping the country does not fulfill the giant of technology, the owners of Facebook and WhatsApp – of responsibility.

In a declaration issued on Saturday by the director of the company’s business affairs of the FCCPC, Ondaje Ijagwu, the Commission described the threat of WhatsApp to exit Nigeria following a recent judgment of the court as a calculated attempt to arouse negative public feelings and pressure regulators in unverting their position.

The Court for competition and consumer protection on April 25, 2025 confirmed a $ 220 million fine imposed on the destination for violations of the protection of Nigerian consumers, data privacy laws and international human rights standards.

The sentence followed an administrative sanction previously slammed the destination from the FCCPC on July 19, 2024, after a joint 38 -month investigation with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) declared the company guilty of discriminatory practices and exploitation towards Nigerian users.

“The Commission investigated on Meta Platforms and WhatsApp (jointly called” Meta Parti “) for multiple and repeated violations of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR)”, reads the note.

According to the FCCPC, the infringements included denying the control of the Nigerians on their personal data, the unauthorized sharing of user data, the discriminatory processing compared to users of other countries and the abuse of the position of the dominant market through the imposition of unjust policies on privacy.

The Commission observed that Meta had undergone similar sanctions at a global level, including $ 1.5 billion in Texas and 1.3 billion dollars in the European Union for data privacy violations. “In India, South Korea, France and Australia, Meta has respected the sanctions and has never resorted to blackmail or exit threats,” said the FCCPC.

The Commission has argued that the Court’s sentence now requires to respect Nigerian laws, cease exploitation practices, align its operations with national standards and support the rights of Nigerian consumers in line with the best global practices.

“Threatening to leave Nigeria does not erase the result of a judicial or goal process from Meta from its legal obligations,” added the Commission.

By reiterating its determination, the FCCPC said that it remains committed to protecting consumers and applying data privacy to promote a more fair digital market in Nigeria.

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