CCI probe due to ‘angst’ against WhatsApp policy, Meta tells Delhi HC

Social media behemoth Meta on Friday told the Delhi high court that it was being made to face an investigation by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) because there was “angst” against its subsidiary WhatsApp’s decision to not back down from a controversial privacy policy, and that the parent company itself had nothing to do with the row.

Meta, the parent of mobile communication service provider WhatsApp and social media networks Facebook and Instagram, was arguing to appeal against a single judge order of the HC that denied the companies’ requests to strike down the CCI investigation. The parent company was previously known as Facebook.

“Facebook (now Meta) acquired WhatsApp in 2014. The ownership is common but roads are different, policies are different. As far as Facebook is concerned, the first notice to WhatsApp to make enquiry is the actual notice. But I have been roped in by making some reference in the order without any material, much less a prima facie material that I have abused my dominant position. No doubt, I have a dominant position but I did not abuse that. This investigation is intruding into my business..,” said senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi to the bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Mishra and justice Subramonium Prasad.