[kitsunesoba]

Getting people to switch from FB Messenger or especially WhatsApp (which is effectively the default messenger in many parts of the world) is a monumental task. One wouldn't need to just convince their family, but their family would also need to convince their circles and so on and so forth.

This is what's scary, because it means that Facebook has what's effectively a massive captive audience with its messengers.

[ThatPlayer]

That's exactly what this law also targets that by forcing big messaging services to open up to interoperability with other services.

[smoldesu]

That's kinda a bogus concern. As-is, Facebook can already declare that they're moving all WhatsApp clients to their New Web Version and remove all the versions off the App Store. Same goes for the rest of their apps, and it's fully possible on Android too.

But, they don't. Realistically there's no reason for them to exist anywhere besides the App/Play Store, as long as those platforms play fair. This is a real strawman argument though, considering it's fully possible in the status quo. The problem isn't Apple or the government, it's that Facebook already has a disproportionate amount of control over your life. Apple cannot save you from that with a software update.