EU to launch antitrust investigation against Meta
4 December 2025 09:13
The European Commission is preparing a new antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms’ actions due to the introduction of artificial intelligence functions in the WhatsApp messenger, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, December 4, "Komersant Ukrainian".
Brussels wants to check how the American tech giant integrated the Meta AI system into the messenger, the FT explained.
The chatbot and virtual assistant feature was launched in the WhatsApp interface in Europe in March 2025.
According to the newspaper, the inspection will be conducted in accordance with traditional antitrust rules, not under the EU Digital Markets Act, which is currently used for investigations of Amazon and Microsoft cloud services.
Last year, Meta estimated that advertising of dubious and fraudulent offers could account for up to 10% of its annual revenue. In monetary terms, this is about $16 billion. We’re talking about advertising “fake online stores and investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and the sale of banned medical products.”
Researchers inside the company also concluded that Meta apps could be involved in about a third of all successful frauds in the United States.
The report also states that Meta itself in some cases made it difficult for its teams to combat such ads. For example, “small advertisers” found guilty of financial fraud were not blocked until they were detected at least eight times.
