European Union competition regulators have threatened Meta Platforms with preventing it from restricting competitors in the field of artificial intelligence from accessing WhatsApp.
The European Commission announced on Monday that it had sent Meta a statement of objections for suspected abuse of its dominant position and was considering imposing interim measures to prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition.
"We must protect effective competition in this dynamic sector, which means we cannot allow dominant technology companies to illegally abuse their dominance to gain an unfair advantage," European Commissioner for Competition Teresa Riberová said in a statement.
"We are therefore considering imposing interim measures on Meta to preserve competitors' access to WhatsApp during the ongoing investigation and to prevent Meta's new policy from irreparably harming competition in Europe."
She noted that since January 15, Meta has only allowed the use of its own Meta AI artificial intelligence assistant on WhatsApp.
This is not a distribution channel for chatbots
Meta rejects the allegations and claims that there is no reason for the EU to intervene. According to the company, users have plenty of alternative options for using artificial intelligence through apps, devices, or web services.
"The Commission's logic incorrectly assumes that the WhatsApp Business API software interface is a key distribution channel for these chatbots," they clarified in a statement.
The decision on preliminary measures will depend on Meta's response, the EU regulator noted.
The case follows similar steps taken by the Italian regulator, while a Brazilian court, for example, suspended preliminary measures against Meta in the same case last month.
Stricter rules
At the end of January, the European Commission formally designated WhatsApp as a very large online platform (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act. The decision means that the platform must comply with stricter rules in the fight against illegal and harmful content.
According to the Commission, the app had an average of 51.7 million active monthly users in the EU in the first half of 2025, exceeding the 45 million user threshold set by the Act. Platforms exceeding this threshold are required to implement additional measures to protect the digital space and users.
Other platforms that have already been classified as VLOPs include Facebook and Instagram (Meta), YouTube (Google), TikTok, Temu, and LinkedIn (Microsoft). WhatsApp now has four months—until mid-May 2026—to comply with all the new requirements.
The Digital Services Act aims to increase transparency, limit the spread of misinformation, and strengthen platforms' accountability to users.
(reuters, max)