The European Commission threatens Meta with interim measures for violating competition rules on WhatsApp.
The European Commission warned American company Meta on Monday of potential temporary measures, accusing it of violating EU competition rules after excluding third-party artificial intelligence assistants from the WhatsApp application.
Statement of Objections and Meta’s Practices
The Commission has sent Meta what is referred to as a “statement of objections”, in which it claims that the company has breached antitrust rules by preventing competing assistants from accessing WhatsApp users and interacting with them.
According to the Commission, this behavior risks hindering the entry or expansion of competitors in the rapidly growing market for artificial intelligence assistants.
Temporary Measures to Protect the Market
The European Commission indicated that it is considering temporary measures to prevent this policy from causing a serious and irreparable harm to the market, while respecting Meta’s right to respond and exercise its defense rights.
Context of the Case
On October 15, 2025, Meta updated the terms of use for WhatsApp Business, which led to the exclusion of third-party AI assistants. Since January 15, 2026, the only available assistant on WhatsApp has been Meta’s own internal tool (Meta AI).
Main Activities of Meta
Meta operates platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, as well as online advertising services, virtual and augmented reality products, and offers a general AI assistant named Meta AI.
The European Commission concluded that this policy change appears to violate EU competition rules, noting that its final decision regarding temporary measures will depend on Meta’s response and the exercise of its defense rights.
