The European Commission has issued a Statement of Objections to Meta regarding its preliminary finding that the company breached EU antitrust rules by excluding third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the WhatsApp platform. Following a policy update announced in October 2025 and implemented in January 2026, Meta allegedly leveraged its dominant position in the EEA market for consumer communication applications to favor its own tool, Meta AI, while effectively banning competitors. The Commission argues that WhatsApp serves as a critical entry point for reaching consumers and that Meta’s restrictive conduct poses an urgent risk of serious and irreparable harm by raising entry barriers and marginalizing smaller rivals. Consequently, the Commission intends to impose interim measures under Article 8(1) of Regulation 1/2003 to protect market competition while the formal investigation continues. This legal action covers the entire EEA excluding Italy, where national authorities have already acted, and provides Meta the opportunity to examine the investigation file and present a formal defense before any final decision on these protective measures is reached.
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