The European Union (EU) has propped up its antitrust investigations of Meta Platforms, warning that it may impose interim sanctions over the company’s decision to block rival artificial intelligence (AI) services from operating on WhatsApp.
The latest move by the EU represents one of the strongest regulatory measures that it appeared to be prepared to immediately take to curb practices it believes could distort competition in the global fast-growing digital markets.
In a statement issued on Monday on its planned measure, the European Commission stated it had formally charged Meta with breaching EU competition rules by restricting access to WhatsApp’s ecosystem.
The Commission alleged that Meta’s policy change implemented on January 15 allowed only its in-house AI assistant, Meta AI, to function on WhatsApp, effectively shutting out competing AI developers.
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The Commission, which serves as the EU’s antitrust watchdog, confirmed that it had issued a statement of objections to Meta, highlighting its preliminary view that the company’s conduct violates competition law.
The commission maintained that statement formed the basis of the case against the U.S. tech giant and gives Meta the opportunity to respond before a final decision is reached.
An EU executive said on the position of the Union: “The Commission therefore intends to impose interim measures to prevent this policy change from causing serious and irreparable harm on the market, subject to Meta’s reply and rights of defence.”
This suggests that the commission and other regulators are concerned that waiting for a full investigation, often a process that can take years, could allow Meta to cement an unfair advantage in AI-driven services.
Meta’s latest clash with EU regulators is coming against the backdrop of intensifying scrutiny of its data and advertising practices across Europe.
It would be recalled that in April last year, the European Commission had found Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp in violation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which was enacted to rein in the market power of dominant digital platforms, known as “gatekeepers.”
