WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy
Last Modified: October 25, 2022
This policy governs your use of WhatsApp Business Services (as defined in the WhatsApp Business Terms), including those listed below.
- The WhatsApp Business app
- The WhatsApp Business Solution, which is comprised of the WhatsApp Business Client and the WhatsApp Business APIs. If you are using the WhatsApp Business Solution as a service provider on behalf of your Clients, these policies apply to your use and your Clients’ use of the WhatsApp Business Solution.
- Other WhatsApp Business offerings or features that we may provide to you in the future.
- We prohibit organizations and/or individuals engaged in terrorist or organized criminal activity from using the WhatsApp Business Services.
- We prohibit the use of the WhatsApp Business Services to facilitate or organize criminal activity, including exploiting or causing physical, financial, or other harm to people, businesses, or animals.
- We prohibit the use of the WhatsApp Business Services for operating, buying, selling, promoting, or otherwise facilitating the exchange of illegal products or services.
- We prohibit use of the WhatsApp Business Services for buying, selling, promoting, or otherwise facilitating the exchange of certain regulated or restricted goods and services, as determined in our sole discretion, including:
- Firearms
- Alcohol and tobacco
- Drugs, whether prescription, recreational, or otherwise
- Medical and healthcare products
- Endangered species (wildlife and plants)
- Live non-endangered animals excluding livestock
- Hazardous goods and materials
- Real, virtual, or fake currency, including ICOs and binary options
- Body parts or fluids
- Business models, goods, items, or services that we determine may be or are fraudulent, misleading, offensive, or deceptive, or may be or are exploitative, inappropriate, or exert undue pressure on targeted groups
- Real-money gambling
- Adult products and services
- Dating services
- Multi-level marketing
- Payday loans, paycheck advances, P2P lending, debt collection, and bail bonds
These prohibitions apply irrespective of the global or local licenses, registrations, or other approvals your business may hold.
● Organizations must not wrongfully discriminate or suggest a preference for or against people because of a personal characteristic, included but not limited to, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, marital status, disability, or medical or genetic condition. Organizations must comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination.
● Messages must not contain offensive content, for example sexually explicit materials or nudity, determined at our sole discretion.
● Organizations that primarily publish news content must be registered as a news Page through Facebook.
● If you use Commerce Catalogs on the WhatsApp Business app, or provide any other commerce experiences to sell or otherwise facilitate the exchange of goods or services prohibited by the Commerce Policy, then we may prohibit you from using some or all of the WhatsApp Business Services.
Driving high quality conversations between people and businesses is a top priority. People can block or report businesses and our systems will rate limit businesses if the business' quality is low for a sustained period of time. We may also reactively evaluate a business' opt-in flows, including review of user feedback, to flag policy violations and develop additional types of enforcement over time.
Best practices to create a high-quality opt-in experience:
- Users should expect the messages they receive. You can set this expectation by:
- Obtaining an opt-in that encompasses the different categories of messages that you will send (ex: order updates, relevant offers, product recommendations, etc.)
- Obtaining separate opt-in by specific message category
- This mitigates the risk that users will block your business because they receive unsolicited messages.
- Provide clear instructions for how people can opt out of receiving specific categories of messages, and honor these requests.
- Ensure your opt-in and opt-out flows are clear and intuitive for users.
- Clearly communicate the value of receiving this information on WhatsApp.