LOC22:49
19:49 GMT
BRUSSELS, Jan 26 (KUNA) -- The European Commission designated on Monday the instant messaging service WhatsApp, owned by Meta, as a "Very Large Online Platform" under the EU's Digital Services Act, imposing additional obligations on the company to address illegal and harmful content.
The Commission said in a press release that the decision was taken after WhatsApp's "Channels" feature exceeded the designation threshold set out in the law, which is 45 million average monthly active users within the European Union, as the service recorded about 51.7 million active users on average during the first six months of 2025.
The Commission explained that WhatsApp is a hybrid service combining features of private messaging and those of online platforms, noting that the "Channels" feature, which allows the dissemination of information, updates and announcements to a broad audience of app users, falls under the definition of an online platform and is therefore subject to the provisions of the Digital Services Act.
In contrast, the Commission confirmed that WhatsApp's private messaging services, which enable users to send text and voice messages, photos, videos and documents, as well as make voice and video calls, remain explicitly excluded from the scope of the Digital Services Act.
Under this designation, Meta, the provider of WhatsApp, will have four months, until mid-May 2026, to ensure the platform complies with the additional obligations imposed on very large online platforms.
These obligations include carrying out a comprehensive assessment and mitigation of systemic risks, in particular risks related to violations of fundamental rights and freedom of expression, electoral manipulation, the dissemination of illegal content, as well as privacy protection concerns.
The Commission added that following this designation, it will assume direct supervision of WhatsApp's compliance with the Digital Services Act, in cooperation with the Irish media authority, in its capacity as the national Digital Services Coordinator in the EU country where the company is established. (end)
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