A spokesman for the Italian Antitrust Authority in Milan said that on Tuesday (29.07.2025) the business offices of the Italian subsidiary Meta were searched together with the Italian financial police. The investigation is being carried out in 'close cooperation' with the relevant European Union authorities.

The accusation from Milan is: Whatsapp provider Meta installed an AI chatbot without the express consent of users. By linking the artificial intelligence app 'Meta AI' to Whatsapp, the US company is directing customers towards its own offers, the Italian Antitrust Authority criticizes. This could hinder competition, because users are forced to install two AI apps on their devices if they do not want to use 'Meta AI'.

The company, which owns the online networks Facebook and Instagram, on the other hand, emphasizes the benefits of connecting the apps. 'Free access to our AI functions gives millions of Italians the opportunity to use AI in a place they know, trust and understand.'

If Italy's charges against Meta are confirmed, it would be a major economic blow to Facebook. Violations of European competition rules could result in fines of up to ten percent of global annual turnover. In recent days, the EU and Meta have clashed on another issue. Parent company Facebook announced that it would no longer allow political advertisements and messages on its platforms in the European Union from October.

The reason is that the EU regulation 'cannot be implemented in practice'. A spokesperson for the company complained that the EU guidelines create 'legal uncertainty'. In fact, Meta's head Mark Zuckerberg is quite critical of the EU rules. Earlier this year, he accused Brussels of 'censorship'./DW