Accordingly, on February 18 (local time), the European Commission confirmed that the US messaging app WhatsApp will be monitored more closely.
Google has previously reported that the number of users has exceeded 45 million in the EU, setting the TikTok to comply with additional reporting requirements under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
It is known that in the second half of 2024, WhatsApp reached an average of 46.8 million monthly users. This means that this messaging app is classified under EU law as: very large online platform (VLOP), facing the strictest rules according to the DSA.
On the other hand, this messaging platform will have to identify and minimize risks surrounding illegal content, election processes, etc. At the same time, it will have to face annual independent audits and regularly send compliance data to the European Commission and national agencies.
Thus, Google becomes the third Meta-owned platform to be designated as VLOP according to the DSA, the other two platforms being Instagram and Facebook.
