India, Nov. 7 -- In a recent order, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) did more than settle a dispute between WhatsApp and the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The court drew a line between law and data privacy in the fast-growing digital economy, and revealed how to deal with platform power in the age of surveillance capitalism. While the tribunal upheld the over Rs 200 crore penalty on Meta Platforms, the parent of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, it lifted the CCI's five-year ban on data sharing between WhatsApp and other Meta entities.

The decision gives Meta a reprieve, and breathing space, even as it does not lower the warning flag. For Meta, the order restores flexibility in its most valuable market. Whats...