WhatsApp under fire: EU steps up pressure on Meta over claims of blocking AI rivals

The European Union has ramped up the pressure on Meta and threatened to stop the tech giant from blocking AI rivals from using the WhatsApp messaging services.

The European regulators have charged Meta with violating antitrust rules and exploiting its dominant position in the tech industry.

According to the statement issued by the European Commission and sent to Meta, if the parent company of WhatsApp does not stop from breaching the bloc’s rules, it will impose interim measures to thwart serious harms to rivals.

EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said, “We are considering quickly imposing interim measures on Meta, to preserve access for competitors to WhatsApp while the investigation is ongoing and avoid Meta's new policy irreparably harming competition in Europe.”

Therefore, it is important to protect healthy and vibrant competition in a highly competitive digital landscape.

The EU’s recent intimidation has evoked a sharp response from Meta.

According to Meta’s spokesperson, “The facts are that there is no reason for the EU to intervene in the WhatsApp Business API. There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and industry partnerships.”

“The Commission's logic incorrectly assumes the WhatsApp Business API is a key distribution channel for these chatbots,” the spokesperson added.

The Commission's interim measures came as Meta implemented its policy on January 15.

As per this policy, the tech firm only allowed its Meta AI assistant on WhatsApp, excluding other bots from messaging services.

The implementation of these measures would only depend on Meta’s reply and rights of defence, as reported by the watchdog.