On Friday, Meta released an update detailing its strategy to adhere to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a European regulation designed to enhance competition within digital marketplaces. This update specifically addresses the company’s messaging applications, Messenger and WhatsApp.
According to a blog post by the company, the DMA mandates that the company offer an option within WhatsApp and Messenger to connect with interoperable third-party messaging services and applications. Meta is developing notifications for WhatsApp and Messenger to keep users informed about third-party integrations and notify them when a new compatible third-party messaging app becomes available.
The company has announced the introduction of an onboarding flow in WhatsApp and Messenger, enabling users to gain insights into third-party chats and activate them seamlessly. Users will have the option to establish a specific folder for third-party messages or choose to utilise a combined inbox instead.
In line with the DMA, Meta plans to launch voice and video calling in 2027 after introducing group functionality for third-party chats in 2025.
The company has announced that at an undetermined time in the future, it will introduce “rich messaging” features for third-party chats on WhatsApp and Messenger. These features will include reactions, direct replies, typing indicators, and reading receipts. 
Meta stated in the post, “We will continue to collaborate with third-party messaging services to ensure the safest and most optimal experience.” “Users will begin to notice the third-party chat option once a third-party messaging service has developed, tested, and successfully launched the required technology to ensure a positive and secure user experience.”
The forthcoming interoperability features for WhatsApp and Messenger may not be a guaranteed success. As previously noted, the support from other major messaging platforms, including Viber and Telegram, remains uncertain. WhatsApp will necessitate end-to-end encryption to facilitate interoperability, which may also introduce technical challenges. Furthermore, Meta requires companies to sign an agreement, the details of which have only recently surfaced, in order to integrate with any of its systems.
Matthew Hodgson, the founder of the open-source messaging protocol Matrix, highlighted in a recent talk that Matrix will collaborate with WhatsApp, maintaining end-to-end encryption “on an experimental basis.”
Meta is striving to comply with the messaging-related provisions of the DMA; however, the company has faced criticism for purportedly breaching other aspects of the legislation.
This summer, the European Commission announced that Meta’s “pay or consent” advertising model, which provides EU users of Facebook and Instagram with the option of a paid, ad-free experience or a free, ad-supported version, did not align with the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
