Mar 11, 2024 09:10:00

What are Meta's efforts to interoperate with external messaging apps to comply with EU digital market laws?

The EU's

Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations started on March 7, 2024 (Thursday). The DMA designates large platforms as 'gatekeepers' and requires them to act fairly. In the field of messaging services, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are designated as gatekeepers, so Meta, which operates both services, is working to ensure interoperability with third-party apps.

Making messaging interoperability with third parties safe for users in Europe - Engineering at Meta
https://engineering.fb.com/2024/03/06/security/whatsapp-messenger-messaging-interoperability-eu/

The EU Digital Markets Act is here.

https://element.io/blog/the-eu-digital-markets-act-is-here/

DMA requires Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp to be interoperable with third-party messaging apps.

Users who choose to enable interoperability in third-party messaging apps that meet a set of technical and security requirements will be able to send and receive messages with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

Meta says it has been working with the European Commission since 2022 to implement interoperability in a way that maximizes user security, privacy and safety. WhatApp's reference offer is now open to third-party app providers. A reference offer for Facebook Messenger will also be released later.

According to Meta, third-party app providers need to sign contracts with Facebook Messenger and WhatApp and cooperate to achieve interoperability. Meta needs to complete preparations to enable interoperability within three months of the request, but explains that it may take some time to release the functionality.

Already working on interoperability with Facebook Messenger and WhatApp is Element, a free open source messaging app that uses the real-time communication protocol Matrix.

``Element'' is a secure chat app that allows video conferencing, voice calls, and file sharing for free, no ads, and no time limits - GIGAZINE

Element can also interoperate with Discord and Slack through the paid feature 'Bridge Connection.'

I tried mutually transferring chats from 'Discord' and 'Slack' using the paid feature 'Bridge connection' of the secure chat application 'Element' - GIGAZINE

According to Matthew Hodgson of Element, the company has been working with Meta since late 2023 to test interoperability, allowing 1:1 chats between Matrix and WhatsApp via the DMA API to be implemented with end-to-end encryption. We have succeeded in integrating while maintaining. It has also officially requested interoperability with WhatsApp.

However, Hodgson said the existing integration has not been enabled due to remaining issues.

The first issue is 'reachability.' The questions are whether DMA interoperability is on or off by default for EU citizens, and whether Element users can send messages to WhatsApp users without the WhatsApp user explicitly opting in first.

The second issue is the privacy impact of anti-abuse mechanisms. WhatsApp supports what Matrix calls 'bridged connections' in the form of a 'proxy' or 'intermediate' architecture, allowing existing Matrix traffic to flow into WhatsApp's proprietary API while maintaining end-to-end encryption. Convert. However, it is unclear what the 'additional requirements' they plan to implement to protect users from spam and TCP fingerprinting scams make the option of releasing personally identifiable data of Matrix users to Meta clearly a reality. Hodgson points out that this is not the case.

However, Meta has been working constructively with Element and providing feedback during testing of the DMA API, and Hodgson said, ``At the very least, this is a big step forward with open third-party APIs, and we think it will help us in the long run.'' We hope this is a step towards true open, standards-based interoperability.'