Milan, Nov. 26 (LaPresse) – “Codacons welcomes the Antitrust Authority’s decision to expand the investigation into Meta concerning the WhatsApp service and the new interaction tools or Meta AI features. It was Codacons itself that, with a complaint filed last March, led in July to the opening of a procedure by the Competition Authority for alleged abuse of a dominant position against Meta. In the complaint, Codacons targeted the automatic introduction of the virtual assistant ‘Meta AI’ within the WhatsApp application, without the prior explicit consent of users, and with possible repercussions on competition and harm to other companies operating in the AI sector, excluded from the application,” Codacons stated in a note.
“This concerns AI features linked to WhatsApp, currently affecting 37 million Italian users of the messaging app (over 2 billion worldwide), and which could have direct negative effects on consumers, since Meta’s conduct would completely prevent other companies providing AI Chatbot services from using the WhatsApp platform, removing any possibility for users to access AI services alternative to Meta AI,” Codacons emphasized.
“Meta also now faces another risk: on November 14, the injunction filed by Codacons together with Adusbef and Assourt was discussed before the Rome Tribunal, aimed at preventing minors’ access to Instagram. If the court accepts the legal action, Meta will have to take action by blocking hundreds of thousands of profiles in Italy and implementing technical measures that effectively prevent minors from accessing the popular social network,” the Codacons note concludes.