Meta Platforms Inc’s WhatsApp has been given until mid-May 2026 to comply with the European Union’s toughest digital content rules.
This follows WhatsApp’s “Channels” broadcast feature exceeding the DSA threshold of 45 million average monthly active users in the EU (reaching approximately 51.7 million in early 2025 data).
The European Commission added WhatsApp to its list of 26 “very large online platforms” (VLOPs) on Monday following confirmation that the Channels feature, which allows users to follow one-to-many broadcasts, now exceeds 45 million monthly active users in the European Union.
The designation triggers enhanced obligations specifically for Channels, which the Commission considers a distinct broadcasting service separate from WhatsApp’s core end-to-end encrypted private messaging functionality. Private chats and small group conversations remain outside the scope of the new requirements.
According to the Agency report, the obligations include conducting systemic risk assessments and implementing measures to mitigate risks such as violations of fundamental human rights, freedom of expression, electoral manipulation, the dissemination of illegal content and privacy concerns.
WhatsApp’s latest DSA transparency report, covering the first half of 2025, showed Channels averaging 51.7 million monthly active users in the 27-nation bloc, comfortably above the threshold that activates the stricter rules.
The Commission stated that Meta must achieve full compliance by late May 2026. Non-compliance could result in fines of up to six percent of the company’s global annual turnover.
The move forms part of the EU’s intensified regulatory push against major U.S. tech platforms under the DSA, despite criticism from Washington. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has previously labelled aspects of the DSA as amounting to “censorship” and potentially discriminatory treatment of American companies.
WhatsApp is already facing separate EU scrutiny, including an antitrust investigation launched in December 2025 into whether Meta’s rollout of AI features violates competition rules.
The bloc has recently escalated enforcement actions: last month it imposed its first-ever DSA fine, a 120-million-euro ($140-million) penalty on Elon Musk’s X for transparency violations and on Monday opened a fresh probe into X’s Grok AI tool concerning the generation of sexualised deepfake images.
Meta’s Facebook and Instagram services are subject to multiple ongoing DSA investigations, including allegations of failing to provide researchers with adequate access to public data, not offering sufficiently user-friendly tools to report illegal content or challenge moderation decisions, and inadequately addressing addictive design elements for children. Under the companion Digital Markets Act, Meta was fined 200 million euros in a separate matter last year and has appealed the decision.
The inclusion of WhatsApp’s Channels highlights the EU’s expanding interpretation of what constitutes a “very large” platform as broadcast-style features grow in popularity on traditionally private messaging services.
