WhatsApp May Suspend Operation In Nigeria Over $220m Fine

Barring the last-minute changes, there is strong indications that WhatsApp may suspend its operations in Nigeria, after the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), fined the company $220 million for a data privacy breach.

The parent company of WhatsApp, Meta might withdraw certain services from Nigeria.

Apart from the huge fine, the FCCPC has ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with other Facebook companies and third parties without explicit user consent.

The Commission is also demanding that WhatsApp disclose details about its data collection practices, and enhance user control over data usage.

In response, a WhatsApp spokesperson told TechCabal, “We want to be clear that, technically, based on the order, it would be impossible to provide WhatsApp in Nigeria or globally.”

Meta has not addressed the FCCPC’s allegations regarding user opt-out options from the 2021 privacy policy but insists that the update does not involve sharing user data.