On the 26th, the European Commission issued a communiqué stating that it has officially designated WhatsApp, a communication application owned by the American metaverse platform company, as a "very large online platform" under the framework of the EU's Digital Services Act. This means that the application will face stricter compliance obligations in the EU, providing a basis for the EU to strengthen its supervision in the future.

The communiqué states that WhatsApp's "Channels" feature, which allows users to disseminate information, updates, and announcements to a wide audience, falls under the definition of an online platform service. Additionally, the "Channels" feature in the EU meets the threshold for being considered a "very large online platform" with at least 45 million users.

According to the EU's Digital Services Act, platforms classified as "very large online platforms" will be subject to strict regulation by the EU and will be required to bear more responsibilities in dealing with illegal and harmful content on their platforms. Facebook and Instagram, both owned by the US-based Metaverse Platform Company, YouTube, a video platform owned by Google, LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, and Amazon, a US-based e-commerce giant, have all been identified as "very large online platforms" by the EU.

According to the announcement, upon completion of the identification as a "super large online platform", the Metaverse Platform Company, as the service provider of WhatsApp, must ensure that it fulfills the additional obligations applicable to "super large online platforms" within four months, including fully assessing the systemic risks that may arise from its services and taking measures to reduce risks. According to the Digital Services Act, the maximum penalty for non-compliant enterprises can be a fine of 6% of their global annual turnover.

Recently, disputes between the United States and Europe over digital regulation have been ongoing. In December 2025, the European Commission imposed a fine of 120 million euros on X, a social media platform owned by American entrepreneur Elon Musk, under the Digital Services Act. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of State imposed visa restrictions on five individuals, including Thierry Breton, a former member of the European Commission.