{"id":249324,"date":"2025-12-24T14:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T14:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/249324\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T14:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T14:04:08","slug":"italy-watchdog-orders-meta-to-halt-whatsapp-terms-barring-rival-ai-chatbots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/249324\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy watchdog orders Meta to halt WhatsApp terms barring rival AI chatbots"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILAN, Dec 24 (Reuters) – Italy’s antitrust authority (AGCM) on Wednesday ordered Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab<\/a> to suspend contractual terms that could shut rival AI chatbots out of WhatsApp, as it investigates the U.S. tech group for suspected abuse of a dominant position.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Meta called the decision “fundamentally flawed,” and said the emergence of AI chatbots “put a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support”.<\/p>\n

Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n

“We will appeal,” the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n

The move is the latest in a string by European regulators against Big Tech firms, as the EU seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence.<\/p>\n

Meta’s conduct appeared capable of restricting “output, market access or technical development in the AI chatbot services market”, potentially harming consumers, AGCM said.<\/p>\n

In July<\/a>, the Italian regulator opened the investigation into Meta over the suspected abuse of a dominant position related to WhatsApp. It widened the probe in November to cover updated terms for the messaging app’s business platform.<\/p>\n

“These contractual conditions completely exclude Meta AI’s competitors in the AI chatbot services market from the WhatsApp platform,” the watchdog said.<\/p>\n

EU antitrust regulators launched a parallel investigation into Meta<\/a> last month over the same allegations.Europe’s tough stance – a marked contrast to more lenient U.S. regulation – has sparked industry pushback, particularly by U.S. tech titans, and led to criticism from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Italian watchdog said it was coordinating with the European Commission to ensure Meta’s conduct was addressed “in the most effective manner”.<\/p>\n

Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Alexander Smith<\/p>\n

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n

Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILAN, Dec 24 (Reuters) – Italy’s antitrust authority (AGCM) on Wednesday ordered Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[261],"tags":[86742,291,82519,82793,289,290,82794,82500,85474,82543,82538,82545,82546,82535,82549,82541,82550,82776,82553,82536,82559,129843,82528,82531,82711,82529,82555,82542,82777,82547,82539,82557,82537,82540,82554,82552,82548,82551,18,55396,4893,82520,82522,32356,86743,45748,19,82765,17,1355,82797,721,86744,82524,82799,129842,82508,82510,82964,82558,83363,82791,111007,82512,87107,15170,82801,753,82,30150,82534,82533,107,82518],"class_list":{"0":"post-249324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-acb","9":"tag-ai","10":"tag-amers","11":"tag-arti","12":"tag-artificial-intelligence","13":"tag-artificialintelligence","14":"tag-clj","15":"tag-cmpny","16":"tag-crim","17":"tag-destabn","18":"tag-destabx","19":"tag-destafa","20":"tag-destbnx","21":"tag-destcsa","22":"tag-destdnp","23":"tag-deste","24":"tag-destfun","25":"tag-destg","26":"tag-destgns","27":"tag-destlby","28":"tag-destlita","29":"tag-destoant","30":"tag-destoukbsm","31":"tag-destousbsm","32":"tag-destousesg","33":"tag-destoustcm","34":"tag-destpco","35":"tag-destpcu","36":"tag-destpge","37":"tag-destpsc","38":"tag-destrast","39":"tag-destrbn","40":"tag-destreulb","41":"tag-destrnp","42":"tag-destrws","43":"tag-destrwsa","44":"tag-destu","45":"tag-destucdptest","46":"tag-eire","47":"tag-emea","48":"tag-eu","49":"tag-europ","50":"tag-ezc","51":"tag-fin","52":"tag-fraud1","53":"tag-gen","54":"tag-ie","55":"tag-intag","56":"tag-ireland","57":"tag-it","58":"tag-itec","59":"tag-legal","60":"tag-monop","61":"tag-namer","62":"tag-netsv","63":"tag-nrlpaoant","64":"tag-pol","65":"tag-publ","66":"tag-regs","67":"tag-reuters-legal","68":"tag-rsbiregulatory-oversight","69":"tag-rulesmagnificent-seven","70":"tag-rulesmarkets-facebook","71":"tag-sci","72":"tag-socmed","73":"tag-sustainable-business","74":"tag-swit","75":"tag-tech","76":"tag-technology","77":"tag-tmt","78":"tag-topcmb","79":"tag-topnws","80":"tag-us","81":"tag-weu"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}