The Supreme Court’s sharp questioning of Meta Platforms and its messaging service WhatsApp last week goes to the heart of how power is exercised in India’s digital economy. At issue is WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy update, which effectively forced users to consent to the sharing of their data with other Meta platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, or stop using the service altogether. The appeal before the Court stems from a ₹213.14-crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India, which found this “take-it-or-leave-it” approach to be anti-competitive.
The Court was right to underline WhatsApp’s extraordinary position in India. For millions, it is not merely another app but the default infrastructure for personal communication, group coordination, small businesses, schools and even local governance. Its network effects are so overwhelming that opting out is rarely a realistic choice. In such circumstances, consent extracted through an ultimatum is consent only in name.
This is not an argument against WhatsApp earning revenue. The platform has transformed communication in India, offering messaging, voice and video calls at virtually zero marginal cost, and popularising end-to-end encryption in a surveillance-heavy environment. These are genuine public benefits. But precisely because WhatsApp is so deeply embedded in everyday life, any shift towards monetisation — especially one driven by cross-platform data sharing—demands the strictest scrutiny.
In theory, dissatisfied users can switch to alternatives such as Signal or Telegram. In practice, these lack the one feature that matters most: universal presence. The power of the default, when wielded by a platform of WhatsApp’s scale, strips users of meaningful choice. An “opt-out” in such circumstances is an inadequate safeguard.
The Court’s instincts are sound, but judicial concern alone is insufficient. India urgently needs a robust digital competition law tailored to gatekeeper platforms, like the draft released in 2024 but since allowed to languish. As the country moves towards a billion internet users, clear rules are essential — not to punish success, but to ensure that dominance is not used to coerce, exclude, or quietly erode user autonomy. A healthy digital marketplace depends on it.
