WhatsApp is now a Very Large platform in the EU, and will face tougher regulation

Meta’s WhatsApp has now gathered enough users to be designated a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), opening it up to stricter regulations in the region, reports Bloomberg.

The DSA assigns VLOP status to any online service with more than 45 million users, a threshold WhatsApp crossed last year, European Commissioner Thomas Regnier told Bloomberg. In a February 14th filing, the company said it recorded an average “approximately 46.8 million” monthly active users of WhatsApp Channels,…