The EU Oils Its Cash Register for 2026 Action: Meta Is at Bat
February 17, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
“Commission Notifies Meta of Possible Interim Measures to Reverse Exclusion of Third-Party AI Assistants from WhatsApp” signals the Zuck that check writing may be something to put on his calendar. The EU statement says:
The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Meta, setting out its preliminary view that Meta breached EU antitrust rules by excluding third party Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) assistants from accessing and interacting with users on WhatsApp. Meta’s conduct risks blocking competitors from entering or expanding in the rapidly growing market for AI assistants. The Commission therefore intends to impose interim measures to prevent this policy change from causing serious and irreparable harm on the market, subject to Meta’s reply and rights of defense.
What’s interesting is the statement “intends to impose interim measures”. The EU tends to move slowly as opposed to one major country’s sending elected official home for a vacay. I interpret this statement to mean: Zuck, things are just going to happen. Buckle up, buddy.
EU professionals enjoy reading documents describing alleged criminal activities. Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
The short announcement includes a graphic. To be honest, I am not sure if this art has been produced by smart software. Also, I am not sure I understand how the flipping of a red arrow to a green arrow will work. But I am a dinobaby, and I simply cannot understand some things. My view is to ring up certain known Internet service providers and some of those “ghost ISPs” and mandate aggressive filtering. The ISPs will squawk, but the EU litigation can create some financial pressure for certain outfits. My hunch is that certain judiciary units might want to do some on-site investigations too.
I am not sure if Meta’s legal eagles can remediate such direct actions at the service firms between a WhatsApp user and Meta. Certain countries are likely to be more enthusiastic about altering Meta’s behavior. But the EU’s signal is clear:
If the Commission concludes, after the parties have exercised their rights of defense, that the conditions for interim measures are met, it can adopt a decision imposing such measures. The adoption of an interim measures’ decision does not prejudge the final findings of the Commission on the substance of the case.
France has demonstrated that even iconic services can be spray painted dull gray. Is WhatsApp facilitating certain types of behavior the EU might find objectionable beyond the blocking of competitive smart software? I would suggest that this AI wrapping hides what’s in a box of alleged infractions facilitated by Meta / Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
My view is that France’s direct action against Pavel Durov may have been a useful example for some EU professionals. Furthermore, I think the EU has a short list of American big tech companies to examine with renewed vigor in the new year. Will the US firms care? Nope or at least until a significant revenue hit takes place. I predict that 2026 will be a bounteous year for legal eagles involved in US big tech, AI, and social media matters.
Stephen E Arnold, February 17, 2026
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