Meta on Friday provided an update on how it will comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a European law aimed at promoting competition in digital markets, which concerns its messaging apps Messenger and WhatsApp.
As Meta noted in a blog post, the DMA requires WhatsApp and Messenger to offer the option to connect with interoperable third-party messaging services and apps: Meta said it is building notifications into WhatsApp and Messenger to let users know about these third-party integrations and alert them when new compatible third-party messaging apps come online.
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The company also said it will introduce an onboarding flow for WhatsApp and Messenger where users can learn more about and turn on third-party chat, from which they will be able to set up a designated folder for third-party messages and opt into a unified inbox.
Image credit: Meta
Meta plans to roll out group functionality for third-party chat in 2025, and launch voice and video calling in 2027, in line with the DMA.
Meta also plans to bring “rich messaging” features for third-party chats to WhatsApp and Messenger at some point in the future, including reactions, direct replies, typing indicators and read notifications, the company said.
Image credit: Meta
“We continue to work with third-party messaging services to provide the best and safest experience,” Mehta said in the post. “Users will see third-party chat options as third-party messaging services build, test, and release the technology necessary to make their features a positive and safe user experience.”
The upcoming WhatsApp-Messenger interoperability feature is not entirely certain. As we have previously reported, it is not clear whether other major messaging operators such as Viber or Telegram will support it. WhatsApp requires end-to-end encryption for interoperability, which could also be a technical hurdle. Additionally, Meta requires companies to sign an agreement (details of which have not been made public) to integrate with Meta's system.
For example, Matthew Hodgson, founder of open source messaging protocol Matrix, said in a talk earlier this year that Matrix would “experimentally” work with WhatsApp while maintaining end-to-end encryption.
While Meta is attempting to comply with its obligations under the messaging-related provisions of the DMA, it has been accused of violating other provisions of the Act.
This summer, the European Commission said Meta's “pay or consent” advertising model, which allows EU users on Facebook and Instagram to choose between a paid ad-free experience and a free ad-supported version, was not DMA compliant.