Meta’s Whatsapp messaging app is the latest platform to be subjected to the most stringent requirements under the EU’s platform rules.
In its transparency report, the platform announced that it has reached 46.8 million average monthly users in the EU, which exceeds the threshold of 45 million active users considered to be very large online platforms (VLOPs) under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
From the moment of determination, the platform has four months to comply with the rules. No official date has been announced yet.
According to the DSA, VLOPs are obliged to strengthen consumer and fundamental rights protection, prevent the spread of illegal content, and ensure greater transparency of algorithms and content moderation.
Other Meta services – Facebook and Instagram – are already on the VLOP list and are subject to ongoing investigations by the European Commission into possible violations of the DSA.
The number of users of the Telegram messenger, founded by Russian Pavel Durov, does not yet exceed 45 million monthly users in the block, a spokesman for the Belgian Digital Services Coordinator told Euronews.
The Belgian Institute of Post and Telecommunications (BIPT) expects the Commission to publish a delegated act on the calculation of the average number of monthly users. This could “potentially affect the way the figures are calculated and published,” a spokesperson for the institute said.
“The BIPT considers it unlikely that Telegram will exceed the threshold of 45 million users at this time,” the regulator added.
Telegram has set up its headquarters in Belgium, which means that until it becomes a very large online platform, the BIPT is responsible for its compliance with the DSA.
The platform’s founder has previously stated that he believes the company will reach one billion users worldwide in 2024. The app, which is headquartered in Dubai, currently also claims 900 million active monthly users worldwide.
With Whatsapp, the total number of very large online platforms subject to the DSA has risen to 26. They also include Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, Temu, and Shein.
