TRCHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY:India's competition regulator directed WhatsApp to refrain for a period of five years from sharing user data for advertising purposes with other applications owned by Meta and on Monday over antitrust violations to the messaging application's 2021 privacy policy. .S. Tech giant fined $25.4 million. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in March 2021 launched a probe into WhatsApp's privacy policy that allowed data sharing with Facebook and its units, sparking a global backlash.

CCI said, “Sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other meta companies… will not be made a condition for users to access WhatsApp service in India for purposes other than providing WhatsApp service.” Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Tech giants including Apple, Google and Meta are facing new regulatory challenges with India's proposed EU-like antitrust law. The Indian government is currently investigating the February report of a panel set up by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The report proposes a new “Digital Competition Bill” to complement existing antitrust laws