COMESA Launches Investigation into Meta's WhatsApp Business AI Restrictions Last Verified: 2026-07-31 | Author: Kateule Sydney | Published by E-cyclopedia Resources | Topic: COMESA Meta WhatsApp Business AI Investigation COMESA investigates Meta over WhatsApp Business AI access restrictions affecting African digital markets Summary: The COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission launched an investigation in February 2026 into Meta Platforms Ireland Limited over allegations that amendments to WhatsApp Business Solution Terms in October 2025 unlawfully excluded third-party AI providers from accessing the platform while preserving preferential treatment for Meta AI, potentially abusing a dominant position across 21 African member states. Table of Contents Chapter 1 — The WhatsApp Business API Restrictions and Complaint Chapter 2 — COMESA's New Digital Market Enforcement Powers Chapter 3 — Parallel Global Investigations and Enforce...
COMESA Launches Investigation into Meta's WhatsApp Business AI Restrictions
Last Verified: 2026-07-31 | Author: Kateule Sydney | Published by E-cyclopedia Resources | Topic: COMESA Meta WhatsApp Business AI Investigation
COMESA investigates Meta over WhatsApp Business AI access restrictions affecting African digital markets
Summary: The COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission launched an investigation in February 2026 into Meta Platforms Ireland Limited over allegations that amendments to WhatsApp Business Solution Terms in October 2025 unlawfully excluded third-party AI providers from accessing the platform while preserving preferential treatment for Meta AI, potentially abusing a dominant position across 21 African member states.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 — The WhatsApp Business API Restrictions and Complaint
1.1 Meta's Unilateral Amendment and AdLegal Complaint
On 15 October 2025, Meta unilaterally amended its WhatsApp Business Solution Terms to exclude providers of general-purpose artificial intelligence services from accessing or using the WhatsApp Business Application Programming Interface, while preserving and preferentially integrating Meta's own AI service. The restriction affected major third-party AI platforms including ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, and Google Gemini, as well as locally developed AI solutions. The complaint was filed by Uganda-based consumer and competition advocacy group AdLegal International, which argued that African consumers should enjoy the same protections being extended to users in Europe and other jurisdictions. The WhatsApp Business API is widely used by businesses and technology providers to enable automated customer engagement through WhatsApp, including AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants, making it a crucial gateway for businesses to reach customers across the COMESA region.
Key Elements of the Investigation:
- Restricted Access: Third-party AI providers were effectively denied the ability to integrate with WhatsApp and allow users to ask questions or chat through the platform, while Meta's own AI continued to operate and was integrated across Meta's apps including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger
- Dominance Concerns: The CCCC has reasonable cause to suspect that Meta holds a dominant position in the COMESA common market in the supply of API services as well as downstream AI services
- Competition Impact: The Commission suspects the unilateral amendments are likely to substantially lessen competition in the common market by excluding AI service providers from accessing WhatsApp, described as a crucial gateway to customers
- Potential Sanctions: If found guilty, Meta could face penalties of up to 10 percent of its annual turnover within the common market, orders to reopen API access, or behavioural remedies
Chapter 2 — COMESA's New Digital Market Enforcement Powers
2.1 The 2025 Regulations and Gatekeeper Framework
The COMESA Competition and Consumer Protection Regulations 2025, approved in December 2025 and formally launched on 24 February 2026 in Livingstone, Zambia, represent a sweeping overhaul of the regional competition framework following a four-year review process. The new legal regime introduces far-reaching obligations for players in the technology and digital commerce sectors, including digital market mergers, platform operators, third-party service providers and end users. The regulations empower the CCCC to regulate digital markets by targeting so-called "gatekeepers" — large digital platforms that serve as critical gateways between businesses and consumers — with designated gatekeepers prohibited from engaging in practices such as self-preferencing, unfair leveraging of user data, and discriminatory treatment of smaller businesses.
Key Provisions of the New Regulatory Framework:
- Expanded Enforcement Powers: The regulator is now the COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission with a broader mandate and stronger enforcement, reflecting "changing times" in regional and global markets
- Gatekeeper Rules: Prohibited practices include price parity clauses, anti-steering, self-preferencing, and opaque rankings, with dominance assessment considering economic strength, data control, and network effects beyond market share
- Merger Control Reforms: Strict suspensory merger regime introduced — no implementation before approval with penalties reaching 10 percent of turnover for gun-jumping, plus a COM$250 million transaction value test for digital deals
- Consumer Protection: Consumer protection enforcement now sits under the same authority, with dark patterns, unfair terms, and misleading conduct facing sanctions
- Public Interest: Merger reviews now consider sustainability, innovation, employment, SME participation, and socio-economic effects
Chapter 3 — Parallel Global Investigations and Enforcement Actions
3.1 Coordinated Regulatory Scrutiny Across Jurisdictions
The COMESA investigation was initiated against a backdrop of parallel and related investigations by competition authorities globally, reflecting a common concern regarding how control over access to key digital platforms may affect competition in adjacent and emerging markets. The European Commission issued rare interim measures requiring Meta to allow competing AI assistants to access WhatsApp Business on the same terms that existed before the restrictions were introduced, concluding that WhatsApp represents a critical gateway through which AI providers can reach consumers and warning that Meta's conduct risked foreclosing competition. Meta has strongly opposed the European order and announced plans to appeal.
Key Parallel Proceedings:
- European Commission: Issued a statement of objections in February 2026 expressing preliminary concerns that Meta violated Article 102 TFEU, with interim measures requiring restoration of rival AI access to prevent "serious and irreparable damage" to competition
- Italian Competition Authority (AGCM): Adopted interim measures in December 2025 ordering immediate suspension of the contested terms, finding they risked causing serious and irreparable harm to competition
- Brazil: Meta reversed the decision to block third-party chatbots from WhatsApp API for Brazilian phone numbers after intervention, albeit for a period of 90 days pending investigation
- South Africa: The 2022 probe by the South African Competition Commission found that Meta had violated anti-trust regulations by blocking the government's GovChat from using the WhatsApp business API
Chapter 4 — Implications for African Digital Markets and Businesses
4.1 Impact on African Startups, Businesses, and Regional Integration
The Meta investigation could establish an important precedent for digital competition enforcement across Africa, particularly as messaging platforms increasingly become key distribution channels for AI services. Africa's digital economy was valued at approximately $30.24 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $63.31 billion by 2030, representing annual growth of nearly 16 percent. For Kenyan AI startups and businesses across East Africa, the stakes are high as WhatsApp has become one of the most dominant customer-service channels, often serving as the only digital interface between local businesses and customers. The restriction means businesses that had integrated third-party AI tools may need to rebuild for web or SMS platforms, raising costs and reducing reach. Competition lawyers note that COMESA has in recent years shown a willingness to challenge major technology companies operating in the region, and a finding against Meta could signal that businesses operating across COMESA member states should expect increasingly rigorous competition oversight of digital markets.
Key Implications for Digital Market Participants:
- Startup Innovation: African AI startups building multilingual chatbots for customer service rely on WhatsApp due to its far wider adoption than standalone apps — restricted access may force reliance on Meta's own AI stack or abandonment of WhatsApp automation, increasing costs and slowing product development
- Business Operations: Banks, retailers, and logistics firms relying on WhatsApp chatbots to cut call-centre costs, and small traders using automated messages for orders and payments, may need to invest in proprietary apps or SMS systems
- Compliance Requirements: Firms operating across COMESA member states, particularly those controlling access to platforms or dependent on AI-enabled services integration, should review contractual arrangements and platform access policies against the standards introduced by the 2025 Regulations
- Precedent Setting: The outcome of the Meta investigation is expected to be closely monitored by AI developers, consumer groups and regulators across the continent, establishing an important precedent for how African regulators treat Big Tech platforms that control digital gateways
FAQ: COMESA Meta WhatsApp Business AI Investigation Questions Answered
What did Meta do to trigger the COMESA investigation?
In October 2025, Meta amended its WhatsApp Business Solution Terms to exclude third-party AI providers like ChatGPT from accessing WhatsApp Business API while preserving access for its own Meta AI service. This effectively locked rival AI chatbots out of one of Africa's most important digital customer engagement platforms.
Which countries are covered by the COMESA investigation?
The investigation spans 21 COMESA member states including Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Comoros, DR Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Libya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, and Tunisia, representing a market of 682 million consumers with a combined GDP exceeding $1.1 trillion.
What penalties could Meta face if found guilty?
If the CCCC finds Meta abused its dominant position, penalties could include fines of up to 10 percent of its annual turnover within the common market, orders to reopen API access to third-party providers, behavioural remedies, and potential damages to competitors or affected consumers.
How does this affect African businesses and startups?
The restrictions affect businesses that had integrated third-party AI chatbots for customer service, potentially requiring them to rebuild on web or SMS platforms. For AI startups, particularly those building multilingual solutions, restricted API access may force reliance on Meta's AI stack or abandonment of WhatsApp automation altogether.
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