WhatsApp Commerce Policy

Last Modified: January 15, 2021

1. When you offer goods or services for sale, we consider all messages and media related to your goods or services, including any descriptions, prices, fees, taxes and/or any required legal disclosures, to constitute transactions. Transactions must comply with the policies listed below, and applicable terms, laws and regulations.
2. You are solely responsible for your transactions and providing any sales terms, privacy terms or other terms applicable to your interactions with users.
3. We are not responsible for processing, paying for, or fulfilling any sales relating to your transactions.
4. You are solely responsible for determining, collecting, withholding, reporting, and remitting all applicable taxes, duties, fees and additional charges for sales relating to your transactions.
5. Examples listed below are representative, but not exhaustive.

6. Offers to sell and sales of the following are prohibited:

   Illegal products or services

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the operations or exchange of illegal products or services.

   Drugs, whether prescription, recreational, or otherwise

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale of illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs. Manufacturers and healthcare services who do not engage in direct sale are allowed.

   • Examples:

     Drugs, including marijuana and marijuana products

     Drug paraphernalia, including pipes and bongs

     Prescription drugs

   Tobacco items and related paraphernalia

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia.

   • Examples:

     Apparel featuring a tobacco brand logo

     Cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco

     Tobacco pipes and paraphernalia

     Tobacco rolling machines

     Hookahs

     Bongs

     Rolling papers

     Electronic cigarettes (E-cigarettes) or tobacco devices

   Alcohol

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale of alcohol.

   • Examples:

     Books or DVDs about alcohol

     Alcohol-related items, including glasses, coolers, and wine bottle holders

     Alcoholic beverages

     Kits for producing alcohol

   Unsafe ingestible supplements

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale of unsafe ingestible supplements, as determined by WhatsApp in its sole discretion.

   • Examples:

     Anabolic steroids

     Chitosan

     Comfrey

     Dehydroepiandrosterone

     Ephedra

     Human growth hormones

   Weapons, ammunition, or explosives

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale or use of weapons, ammunition, or explosives.

   • Examples:

     Promoting safety training or licenses for legal weapons

     Firearms and firearm parts

     Paintball guns

     BB Guns

     Fireworks

     Pepper spray

     Tasers

     Gun ranges

     Gun shows

   Animals

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale of any animals.

   • Examples:

     Animal cages

     Products for animals (toys, collars, etc.)

     Veterinary services

     Grooming services

     Boarding services

     Pet adoption services

     Live animals

     Livestock

     Prohibited animal parts, including but not limited to bone, teeth, horn, ivory, taxidermy, organs, external limbs, secretions, or carcasses

     Any product or part, including but not limited to leather, skin, hide, fur, wool, or hair from any dogs, cats, and endangered or threatened animals

   Adult products or services

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale or use of adult products or services.

   • Examples:

     Products promoting family planning and contraception, which focus on the contraceptive features of the product, and not on sexual pleasure or sexual enhancement

     Sex toys

     Videos or live shows for adult entertainment

     Sexual enhancement products

     Sexually suggestive services

   Body parts and fluids

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale of human body parts or fluids.

   • Examples:

     Blood donation centers

     Blood

     Hair extensions and wigs

     Urine

     Body parts

     Organs

     Human tissue

     Teeth

   Medical and healthcare products

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in certain healthcare products, including medical devices, and smoking cessation products containing nicotine. Manufacturers and healthcare services who do not engage in direct sale are allowed.

   • Medical Devices - Examples:

     Lifestyle and fitness accessories

     Contact lenses

     Bandages and braces for physical injuries

     Thermometers

     Testing kits for medical conditions or diseases

     Breast pumps

     First-aid kits

   • Smoking Cessation Products - Examples:

     Nicotine patches

     Nicotine gum

   Items or products with overtly sexualized positioning

   • Policy: Businesses may not position products or services in a sexually suggestive manner.

   • Examples:

     Implied nudity

     Implied sexual acts

     Zoomed-in sexual images

   Real money gambling services

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in or facilitate gambling, games of skill, or lotteries, including online casinos, sports books, bingo, or poker if it costs money.

   Dating services

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in or facilitate online dating services.

   Products or items that facilitate or encourage unauthorized access to digital media

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale of devices that facilitate or encourage streaming digital content in an unauthorized manner or interfering with the functionality of electronic devices.

   • Examples:

     Add-on equipment for streaming devices such as keyboards and remotes

     Sale of streaming devices loaded with software that facilitates unauthorized access to content

     Jailbroken or loaded devices

     Jamming or descrambling devices

     Wiretapping devices

   Digital and subscription services, including links to or processing of any subscription sales, renewals, or upgrades

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale, including renewals and upgrades, etc., of digital content, digital subscriptions, or digital accounts.

   • Examples:

     Authentic audio or video CDs, DVDs, and Blu Ray

     Digital devices, including Smartphones, video game consoles, and TVs

     Downloadable content, including PDFs, music, games, movies, etc.

     Digital accounts, including games accounts

     Digital subscriptions and internet streaming services, including TV, Mobile, etc.

     Digital coupons

   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

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in deceptive, false, misleading, or offensive offers or products.

   • Examples:

     Multilevel marketing

     Penny auctions

     ICOs and binary options

     Payday loans, paycheck advances, P2P lending, debt collection, and bail bonds

     Diet, weight loss, or other health related products that imply or attempt to generate negative self-perception

   Real, virtual, or fake currency

   • Policy: Businesses may not transact in the sale of real, virtual, or fake currency.

   • Examples:

     Real money (cash or cash equivalent instruments and coins)

     Replica or prop money

     Digital or cryptocurrency

     Active bank credit or debit cards

     Store credit cards or coupons

     Pre-paid credit or debit cards

     Checks or checkbooks

     Equipment to create counterfeit currency or financial instruments

   Third-Party Infringement

   • Policy: Transactions may not contain content that infringes upon or violates the intellectual property rights of any third party, including copyright or trademark. This includes, but is not limited to, the sale of counterfeit products, such as goods that copy the trademark (name or logo) and/or distinctive features of another company’s products to imitate a genuine product.

   • Examples:

     Counterfeits, knockoffs, or replicas of branded goods, or posts offering goods that are likely to confuse consumers about the source, sponsorship or affiliation of those goods.

     Unauthorized or pirated copies of copyrighted works, such as videos, movies, TV shows and broadcasts, video games, CDs or other musical works, books, etc.