India’s Supreme Court sharply criticized Meta and WhatsApp on February 2, 2026, over their data-sharing practices, warning them to “exit India” if they cannot comply with privacy rules.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant criticized WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy as exploitative, accusing it of enabling data theft through complex opt-out clauses that disadvantage uneducated users. “You can’t play with privacy… we will not allow you to share a single digit of our data,” the court stated.
The remarks came during hearings on appeals against a Rs 213.14 crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India in November 2024. The regulator found WhatsApp abused its market dominance by forcing users to accept data-sharing with Meta entities or lose service access. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal upheld the fine last November.
The court admitted the petitions, directed Meta and WhatsApp to file affidavits, and impleaded the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. It adjourned the matter to next week, emphasizing safeguards for metadata and behavioral data despite end-to-end encryption.
This escalation revives long-standing scrutiny of WhatsApp’s policies in India, its largest market with over 500 million users.
