ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The Nigerian government on Friday fined Meta $220 million, saying its investigation found “multiple and repeated” violations of the country’s data protection and consumer rights laws on Facebook and WhatsApp.
A statement from Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) listed five ways in which Meta violated data laws in the West African country. These included sharing Nigerians’ data without consent, denying consumers the right to control how their data is used, discriminatory practices and abusing market dominance.
“Satisfied with the substantial evidence in the record and that the Meta Parties have been given every opportunity to present their views … the Commission has now issued a final order and imposed a fine on the Meta Parties,” Adamu Abdullahi, director of the FCCPC, said in a statement.
A Meta spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, also has one of the highest numbers of internet users in the world, with 154 million active subscribers in 2022, according to the country’s statistics agency.
Despite the high number of internet users in the country, Meta does not comply with Nigerian data protection regulations, has not engaged a data protection compliance organization and has not submitted an audit report on Nigerian data protection regulations for two years, the consumer protection agency said.
In addition to the $220 million fine, the agency ordered Meta to comply with local laws and stop “exploiting” Nigerian consumers.
The investigation into the reported misconduct first began in May 2021, when the agency opened an inquiry into WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy. It later informed Meta of its findings, after which the company proposed a “remediation package” that did not address initial concerns, the statement said.
