WhatsApp may exit Nigeria over $220m fine

WhatsApp may suspend its operations in Nigeria due to regulatory demands.

One week ago, Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) imposed a $220 million fine on WhatsApp for a data privacy breach.

Now, sources close to the situation indicate that Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, is contemplating the withdrawal of certain services from Nigeria.

Alongside the substantial fine, the FCCPC has directed WhatsApp to cease sharing user data with other Facebook companies and third parties without explicit user consent. The commission also requires WhatsApp to disclose details about its data collection practices and to enhance user control over 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 spokesperson criticized the FCCPC’s order as flawed, asserting that it inaccurately portrays WhatsApp’s data handling and would necessitate significant changes to the platform’s infrastructure.

Meta has not addressed the FCCPC’s allegations regarding user opt-out options from the 2021 privacy policy but maintains that the update does not involve sharing 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 potential suspension of WhatsApp could have significant repercussions for individuals and small businesses in Nigeria, many of whom rely on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook for customer engagement.