Brussels – The European Commission is pressing ahead with its proceedings to adopt interim measures to restore full access to WhatsApp for rival virtual assistants. The European Commission today sent (15 April) a supplementary statement of objections to Meta in which it states its intention to order the multinational to restore access for third-party virtual assistants to WhatsApp under the same conditions that applied prior to the change in its policy on 15 October 2025, and notwithstanding the changes announced by Meta on 4 March 2026. This is a further step in the European Commission’s interim measures procedure as part of its investigation into a potential abuse of a dominant position by Meta, through the restriction of third-party virtual assistants’ access to its WhatsApp messaging app. “Excluding competitors in rapidly evolving markets such as AI is exactly the kind of behaviour that the interim measures aim to counter,” explained Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for a Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition. “Replacing the legal ban with a pricing policy that has a similar effect does not alter our preliminary view that Meta’s conduct appears to constitute an abuse of a dominant position, which could seriously harm competition in the market for AI-based virtual assistants. For this reason, we are proceeding with the process to adopt interim measures, which would restore full access to WhatsApp for competing virtual assistants, pending a full analysis of the matter,” the Spanish official emphasised.
Today’s communication follows the supplementary statement of objections sent on 9 February, in which the Commission set out its preliminary view that Meta had infringed EU antitrust rules by excluding third-party virtual assistants from accessing and interacting with users on WhatsApp. In today’s document, the Commission has assessed Meta’s decision to restore access to WhatsApp for third-party virtual assistants, subject to payment of a fee. It “has preliminarily concluded that this policy is in effect equivalent to the previous ban on access,” meaning that “Meta’s conduct risks preventing competitors from entering or expanding in the rapidly growing market for AI-based virtual assistants.” Consequently, “the Commission intends to impose interim measures to prevent these regulatory changes from causing serious and irreparable harm to the market, subject to Meta’s replies and rights of defence,” reads a press release. The interim measures will remain in force until the conclusion of the Commission’s investigation and the adoption of a final decision on Meta’s conduct. Furthermore, in a separate decision, in cooperation with the Italian competition authority, the Commission today extended the investigation to Italy; therefore, the Commission’s conclusions will now apply to the entire European Economic Area (EEA). Brussels notes that “Italy had previously been excluded from the Commission’s investigation, as the Italian competition authority had launched its own investigation into the matter.”
The story began on 15 October last year, when Meta announced an update to the Terms of Service for its WhatsApp Business solution, effectively banning the use of third-party AI-powered virtual assistants from 15 January 2026. On 4 December 2025, the Commission opened formal proceedings as part of this ongoing investigation and, on 9 February, sent Meta a statement of objections, “notifying it that its conduct appears, at first glance, to be in breach of EU competition rules and of the Commission’s intention to impose interim measures.” Meta’s response arrived on 2 March, and two days later, the US giant published a revised policy, lifting the ban but introducing a pricing framework applicable to third-party AI-based virtual assistants. In today’s supplementary statement of objections, the Commission notified Meta that “the revised policy appears to have the same effect of excluding third-party virtual assistants from WhatsApp and therefore appears, at first glance, to infringe EU competition rules.” Therefore, to prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition, the Commission intends to order Meta to restore access for third-party virtual assistants on the same terms as those in place prior to 15 October 2025, until it reaches a final decision on Meta’s conduct. In any event, the sending of today’s letter does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation, and Meta has the opportunity to respond to the Commission’s concerns.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
