Huge Fine on Meta by an African Country

The Nigerian government has imposed a financial penalty of $220 million on Meta due to "multiple and repeated" violations of data protection and consumer rights laws in the country, affecting the Facebook and WhatsApp apps. In a statement, the government pointed out "five ways in which Meta violated data laws in the West African nation, including sharing Nigerians' data without consent, denying consumers the right to control their own data usage, discriminatory practices, and abusing market dominance." Adamu Abdullah, the CEO of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, noted that "we are satisfied with the significant evidence recorded, and we provided Meta with every opportunity to defend itself, and the commission has now issued a penalty against Meta." Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, has one of the largest numbers of internet users in the world, with 154 million active subscribers reported in 2022, according to the country's statistics agency. It is worth noting that the investigation into the violations began in May 2021 when the agency opened an inquiry into WhatsApp's updated privacy policy.