Facebook has told the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that its investment in Jio Platforms will involve the transfer of only "limited data". Facebook had recently acquired a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms — through a subsidiary, Jaadhu Holdings LLC — for a whopping $5.7 billion (₹43,574 crore). The deal was okayed by CCI in June, however, the full order has been made public only this week. The CCI explained all the issues it had examined and deliberated upon on the merger, including the data-sharing mechanism between Jio Platforms and Facebook, the interplay of JioChat, WhatsApp and Messenger (both owned by Facebook), possible advantages for JioMart due to integration with WhatsApp and so on. On the matter of a possible unfair advantage that JioMart may have because of integration with WhatsApp Pay (when it is launched), Jaadhu told CCI that JioMart was only a "small e-commerce retail provider", indicating the concerns were unnecessary. CCI went on to also say that both JioMart and WhatsApp are only entrants in their respective markets, hence are unlikely to cause much effect on competition. Data-sharing not purpose of deal, Facebook tells CCI The CCI noted that Facebook, through its applications such as the Facebook platform, Messenger and WhatsApp, has access to "rich data" of user behaviour. Similarly, Jio Platforms (such as JioChat, JioMart, JioCinema, JioCloud, JioSaavn and so on) is also in a position to collect and possess consumer data. CCI admitted that Facebook only wants a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms, and hence this…
