The Channels feature of WhatsApp has expanded to the point where it may be considered a "very large online platform" in the European Union, comparable to the way that Instagram and Facebook have evolved.
According to sources from Reuters, the messaging software WhatsApp developed by Meta could soon be subject to more stringent regulation (and perhaps penalties) under the Digital Services Act approved by the European Commission. As a result of the fact that WhatsApp Channels, the app's broadcasting feature, reached around 51.7 million average monthly active users in the European Union during the first six months of 2025, the tool has surpassed the 45-million-person threshold that allows DSA regulations to be implemented.
According to the European Commission, a platform is considered to be a "very large online platform" (VLOP) whenever it accounts for 45 million or more users on a monthly basis. Once an application or service reaches that threshold, it becomes subject to the Digital Services Act (DSA) and all of its requirements about how digital platforms should operate, notably with regard to the removal of content that is unlawful or harmful. If an organisation does to comply with the DSA, they may be subject to a fine of up to six percent of its annual income anywhere in the world.
However, WhatsApp's Channels feature, which enables users to make one-sided postings to anyone who follows their channel, does appear a lot more like Meta's other social media platforms. WhatsApp has always functioned as a private messaging program. "So here we would indeed designate potentially WhatsApp for WhatsApp Channels, and I can confirm that the Commission is actively looking into it, and I wouldn't exclude a future designation," a spokeswoman for the Commission said in a daily news conference that has been accessed by Reuters.
Indiasocialbook has requested that Meta provide their thoughts on the potential new designation for WhatsApp. When we receive a response, we will update this story.
November 2025 was the first time that it was stated that WhatsApp would become a regulatory target in the European Union; however, Meta has been dealing with fines connected to the Digital Services Act (DSA) since a significant amount of time before that. Within the month of October 2025, Meta was accused with violating the law of the European Union due to the manner in which it requests people to report illegal content on Facebook and Instagram. Because consumers in the Netherlands were not "sufficiently able to make free and autonomous choices about the use of profiled recommendation systems" in the business's applications, a Dutch court ordered the company to adjust the way it presents the timelines on its platforms earlier that month. This was due to the fact that the company's apps have been criticised for their lack of transparency.
