Meta fined in Nigeria for violating consumer, data laws

Nigeria's competition watchdog fined Meta Platforms $220 million on Friday after finding that data-sharing practices on its social platforms violated local consumer, data protection, and privacy laws.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) accused Meta of misusing Nigerian users' data without their consent. 

It also claimed that Meta abused its market dominance by imposing exploitative privacy policies and treated Nigerians unfairly compared to other regions with similar regulations.

Meta did not immediately respond to these allegations, but the FCCPC stated that the company had submitted some documents and retained legal counsel to engage with the agency.

Adamu Abdullahi, the head of the FCCPC, has said that the investigations were conducted in collaboration with Nigeria's Data Protection Commission and lasted over 38 months.

The investigations concluded that Meta’s policies did not allow users to control or withhold consent for collecting, using, and sharing their personal data. Abdullahi highlighted that Meta's prolonged conduct involved multiple and continuous infringements, including abusive and invasive practices against Nigerian data subjects.

The final order outlines specific actions Meta must take to comply with local laws.