WhatsApp, one of the giants of digital technology, has directed its efforts to comply with European Union regulations by developing support for conversations through third-party applications. This move comes in the context in which the Digital Markets Act (DMA) of the EU aims to regulate the behavior of large tech companies, especially those considered "gatekeepers", with a significant impact on the digital market.
WhatsApp, through the role of "gatekeeper" assigned by the EU indicates a dominant position on the messaging market. According to the DMA, this entails the obligation to comply with strict rules. Therefore, WhatsApp is actively working on introducing a new section for managing messages from third-party app conversations.
This is a big change for the company, which previously focused exclusively on its own messaging services. A key aspect of DMA is the requirement that these companies allow users to communicate between different applications. WhatsApp is mentioned as one of the companies that will be subject to the regulations described in the DMA.
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WhatsApp, due to the obligations imposed by the DMA, will provide an important benefit to users by introducing interoperability. Users will gain the ability to communicate with other people through WhatsApp, even if they use different messaging apps.
The interoperability allows, for example, someone on a different messaging app like Signal, Telegram, Viber, Facebook Messenger to message a WhatsApp user, even without having a WhatsApp account. This facilitates more inclusive and diverse communication channels, improving the overall user experience.
It is important to note that users will have full control over this feature, being required to manually activate the Interoperability Service and having the option to opt-out as per Article 7 of the regulations. In addition, end-to-end encryption will need to be preserved in interoperable messaging systems, ensuring a good level of security for users involved in cross-platform communication.
WhatsApp marks an important step in its evolution and the digital messaging market as a whole with this major change. By complying with EU regulations, WhatsApp not only strengthens its market leadership position, but also increases user confidence in security and diversity of communication options. This progress is an example of how laws and regulations can influence technology positively, opening the way to a new era of digital communication, more transparent, secure and accessible.
