Camilla Jessen
Meta plans to show ads on WhatsApp, but European users won’t see them until at least 2025.
WhatsApp recently announced that it will begin showing ads in the Updates section of the app, where users post Stories-style updates.
However, these ads won’t appear for users in the European Union—at least not yet.
This was reported by Digi24.
According to the Irish Data Protection Commission, Meta (WhatsApp’s parent company) has said it will not activate ads in the EU until sometime next year.
In the meantime, Meta plans to meet with European privacy regulators to discuss the legal concerns surrounding advertising on WhatsApp.
Meta has stated it will not use personal data such as language or location to target these ads. However, the company acknowledged that it will draw on information collected through Facebook and Instagram. This has raised red flags for EU authorities, who are concerned about privacy and the potential misuse of user data.
Meta is aiming to avoid another round of heavy fines, which could be imposed if the ads are found to violate EU data protection laws.