India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered an unusually sharp rebuke to Meta, warning it would not allow the social media giant to “play with the right to privacy” of Indian users, as judges questioned how WhatsApp monetizes personal data.

Comments are made as Meta appeals a pUNISHMENT imposed by WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy. Judges have repeatedly asked the company how users can meaningfully agree to data sharing practices in a market where the app is almost the default communication platform.

With more than 500 million users, India is WhatsApp’s largest market and a key growth area for Meta’s advertising business. The judges in the case questioned the potential commercial value of the metadata generated by the platform, and how such data could be monetized by Meta’s broader advertising and AI functions.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Surya Kant said the Supreme Court would not allow Meta and WhatsApp to share even “one piece of information” while the appeal is pending, arguing that users face little real choice in accepting WhatsApp’s privacy policy.

Calling the messaging service a monopoly in practice, Kant questioned how “a poor woman selling fruit on the street” or a domestic worker could be expected to understand how their data was being used.

Other judges also pressed Meta on how to analyze user data beyond message content. Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the court wanted to examine the commercial value of behavioral data and how it is used for targeted advertising, arguing that even anonymous or siled information carries economic value. Government lawyers added that personal data was not only collected but also exploited commercially.

Meta’s lawyers said the platform’s messages were end-to-end encrypted and inaccessible even to the company, arguing that the privacy policy in question did not undermine user protections or allow chat content to be used for advertising.

The case stems from a 2021 update of WhatsApp’s privacy policy requiring Indian users to accept Meta’s broader data sharing terms or stop using the service. India’s competition regulator later imposed a ₹2.13 billion (about $23.6 million) penalty, finding that the policy abused WhatsApp’s dominant position in the messaging market. That judgment lifted on appeal before Meta and WhatsApp moved to the Supreme Court to challenge it. Meta’s lawyers told the court that the fine has been paid.

The Supreme Court adjourned the matter until February 9, allowing Meta and WhatsApp to explain their data practices in more detail. At the competition regulator’s suggestion, the court also agreed to add the IT ministry as a party to the case, widening the scope of the proceedings.

Meta declined to comment.

WhatsApp is facing high scrutiny regarding its data privacy worldwide. It is reported that the US authorities checked claim that WhatsApp chats may not be as private as the company claims, adding to broader questions about how messaging platforms handle user data.

In India, WhatsApp is also navigating new regulatory constraints, including new SIM-binding rules aimed at preventing fraud, which may limit how much small businesses use the messaging service.