According to the statement by the competition authority, it is looking into the changes made in October 2025 to the WhatsApp Business Solution Terms. These changes allegedly prohibit providers of general, purpose artificial intelligence (AI) services from being able to access or use the WhatsApp Business Application Programming Interface (API), whereas Metas own AI services are maintained and given preferential integration.
The Commission stated that it has reasonable cause to suspect, and does suspect that Meta is a dominant company in the Common Market and that the change of the conditions will probably lead to a significant limitation of competition.
The regulator claims that a limitation to the WhatsApp Business API will inevitably lead to getting rid of independent AI service providers, in other words, they are being denied a very essential gateway to the customers of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The authority supports its argument with the fact that the AI rivals may be put at a disadvantage due to such a modus operandi which at the same time aims to consolidate Metas hold on the rapidly expanding AI and digital services sector.
The Commission is requesting interested parties to send in their written submissions and comments.
The results of the investigation may greatly influence the policy on digital competition in the COMESA region, especially since regulators are stepping up their scrutiny of the major technology firms and their grip on key digital infrastructure.