Zuck = WhatsApp = Kaching
February 2, 2026
Mark Zuckerberg’s luck keeps growing! His company Meta bought WhatsApp. It was a tiny thing with a tiny but growing user base. Zuck struck. It grew. Zuck bumped into the pesky EU regulators. Did Zuck duck? Nope. Engadget reports on how WhatsApp’s categorization might be changed in the EU:“WhatsApp Might Soon Be Subject To Stricter Scrutiny Under The EU’s Digital Services Act.”
The EU might make WhatsApp follow the European Commission’s Digital Services Act (DSA). During the first half of 2025, WhatsApp gained about 51.7 million users. The Digital Services Act applies to platforms with 45 million users or more. WhatsApp may be designated a “very large online platform” or VLOP to the young in mind and spirit. The Zuck may be subject to the DSA’s rules. If Meta doesn’t comply, it will fined up to six percent of its global annual revenue.
Have the regulators run amuck? Is Zuck’s luck evaporating? But Zuck has a history of not complying with some European Union silliness. Zuck is an American with an American company. What’s the EU got to do with Zuck? Answer: The cited article reports:
“Meta was charged with violating the EU law in October 2025 because of how it asks users to report illegal content on Facebook and Instagram. Earlier that month, a Dutch court also ordered the company to change how it presents the timelines on its platforms because people in the Netherlands were not "sufficiently able to make free and autonomous choices about the use of profiled recommendation systems" in the company’s apps.”
Will Zuck duck? Nope, legal eagles will take flight. Meetings will occur. Kaching. With money one can make luck, right, Zuck?
Whitney Grace, February 2, 2026
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