WhatsApp in the EU's sights: threat of being categorised as a VLOP?

Florian Bodoky

12-1-2026

Translation: machine translated

As the reach of public channels is growing, the EU Commission is examining whether WhatsApp should be more strictly regulated in future. However, this could be technically complicated.

The European Commission is currently investigating whether the messenger service WhatsApp needs to be regulated more strictly in future. The background to this is the growing importance of the service beyond private communication - thanks to the channel feature. The focus is on a possible categorisation as a very large online platform (VLOP).

VLOP or not VLOP

The Digital Services Act (DSA) provides for special obligations for so-called Very Large Online Platforms (VLOP). This includes digital services that reach more than 45 million active users per month in the European Union. Among other things, these platforms must submit regular risk assessments, implement measures against illegal and manipulative content, report more transparently on their systems and undergo external audits.

WhatsApp has so far been able to avoid final categorisation as a VLOP, as the DSA has linked this classification primarily to public, opinion-forming online services on which content can be widely disseminated (e.g. social media). Private communication explicitly does not count towards the VLOP threshold under the DSA. However, WhatsApp now reports the corresponding user numbers for its public channels. The EU Commission is therefore examining whether the public broadcast functions of the service in particular - such as the so-called channels - should be classified as VLOPs.

It would be interesting to see how the moderation obligations are implemented. The content of the channels is only visible if you specifically search for the channels and open them. Unlike social media, for example, there is no algorithm that shows users content that they have not explicitly selected themselves when scrolling.

Little impact - unlike the DMA

The specific impact on users is likely to be minimal. Unlike the classification as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act. It has not yet been decided whether and in what form the corresponding EU regulations will be implemented. However, the coming months are likely to point the way forward - the currently fragile relationship with the US government is also likely to influence the decision.

Florian Bodoky

Editor

Florian.Bodoky@digitecgalaxus.ch

I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue. more

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