The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on WhatsApp and its parent organisation Meta for unauthorised sharing of user data for commercial gains, saying the company could not “play with the right to privacy of citizens”.
“We will not allow you to share a single word or data.... You have made a
mockery of the country’s Constitution,” a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said.
The court said the user agreement that millions of subscribers had to enter into with the social media platform was one “between a lamb and a lion”. The bench said the agreement was “cleverly drafted” in such a way that most people, particularly those in rural areas and the unlettered, would have no inkling what they were signing up for.
The bench, which also had Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi, directed that the penalty of ₹213.14 crore that Meta had deposited with the Supreme Court registry on the orders of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for abusing its dominant position in the country “shall not be allowed to be withdrawn until further orders”.
The top court was dealing with appeals filed by WhatsApp and Meta challenging the November 2025 judgment passed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLAT) upholding the CCI’s November 2024 order imposing the penalty on the two entities.
The cross-appeal was filed by the CCI challenging the NCLAT judgment permitting WhatsApp and Meta to use subscriber data for commercial advertising and other uses.
While senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Amit Sibal represented Meta and WhatsApp, solicitor-general Tushar Mehta appeared for the CCI and the Union government.
“We will not allow you to share even a single information or data, you cannot play with the rights of this country, let a clear message go on your WhatsApp,” CJI Kant told Rohatgi and Sibal.
Though the two senior counsels argued that subscribers had a choice to opt out of the messaging platform if they didn’t want to compromise on their privacy data, the bench pointed out that WhatsApp enjoyed a monopoly in the country.
“What is the choice with the subscribers? You have a complete monopoly in the market and country and you say you give a choice, the CJI said. “The choice is like an agreement between a lamb and a lion that either you will opt out or we will share your data.”
The bench questioned how the user agreement can be understood by the layman when even those in the legal fraternity may find it difficult to comprehend.
“How would a poor vegetable vendor woman understand it? The kind of language you use is very cleverly crafted that even some of us will not understand,” the bench remarked.
Mehta said not only was private data of users being compromised, but it was being commercially exploited.
The CJI warned that if WhatsApp and Meta fail to give an undertaking that they would not compromise with subscriber data, the court would pass directions or dismiss their appeals forthwith. “The choice is simple. Either you give an undertaking or we are issuing directions. Or we will dismiss it.”
Justice Bagchi noted that even the NCLAT order upholding the CCI directions had been “tweaked” to such an extent that both WhatsApp and Meta can use subscriber data for commercial gains, which the top court will examine for its constitutionality.
The bench indicated that it would examine the rights of the subscribers in the context of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023.