BRUSSELS

The European Commission has officially designated WhatsApp Channels as a "very large online platform" under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), the bloc announced Monday.

Speaking at a press conference following the EU affairs ministerial meeting in Brussels, Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said the designation applies to WhatsApp Channels, the feature that allows users to broadcast information, updates, and announcements to a wide audience.

A platform is classified as "very large" if it reaches at least 45 million users in the EU. WhatsApp Channels surpassed this threshold in the second half of 2024, with more than 46 million monthly users.

"It's therefore already subject to general DSA obligations that online platforms in the EU must respect," she said.

The designation means WhatsApp Channels must comply with DSA rules, including risk assessment, content moderation, and reporting obligations.

Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to 6% of their global turnover.

Virkkunen emphasized that WhatsApp's private messaging service remains excluded from the DSA's scope.

Earlier Friday, the EU Commission also announced an investigation under the DSA into Grok, the AI platform of US social media company X, over its potential to generate fake nude images.

In December, the commission imposed a €120 million ($142 million) fine on X for breaching transparency obligations under the DSA, marking the first enforcement action under the legislation.