India, Feb. 4 -- In a strong rebuke to global tech giants, the Supreme Court on Tuesday told Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp that they cannot "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing" and alleged that they were creating a monopoly in the market and committing theft of private information of customers.

Decrying WhatsApp's privacy policy, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi referred to "silent customers" who are unorganised, digitally dependent and unaware of the implications of data-sharing policies, and asserted, "We will not allow the rights of any citizen of this country to be damaged."

The SC was hearing the appeals of the tech giants against a C...