Help Center - BotSpace

Help Center - BotSpace

WhatsApp Business Platform

WhatsApp Commerce Policy

Overview

WhatsApp Business Services (as defined in the

WhatsApp Business Terms⁠

of Service), enable rich, conversational experiences between businesses and WhatsApp users. Creating valuable experiences for users relies on the compliance of businesses with the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy below. By using our products, businesses agree to the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy and the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service.

The WhatsApp Business Messaging policy below defines what is and isn't allowed on WhatsApp Business Services. Upon reporting, if content goes against our policies, we may take action on it.

This policy governs your use of WhatsApp Business Services including those listed below.

⁠

The WhatsApp Business App⁠

⁠

The WhatsApp Business Platform⁠

, which comprises the WhatsApp Business Client ("Client") and the WhatsApp Business APIs, including the Cloud API hosted by Meta. If you are using the WhatsApp Business Platform as a service provider on behalf of your Clients, these policies apply to your use and your Clients' use of the WhatsApp Business Platform.

Other WhatsApp Business offerings or features that we may provide to you in the future.

____

How We Enforce Our Policies

The policies in this document apply to all WhatsApp Business Products, specifically: the WhatsApp Business App and the WhatsApp Business Platform.

1. Create a Quality Experience

Follow any guidelines and instructions in

technical and product documentation⁠

Maintain a WhatsApp Business profile with customer support contact information and one or more of the following: email address, website address, and/or telephone number. Keep all information accurate and up-to-date. You must not impersonate another business or otherwise mislead customers as to the nature of your business.

You may only contact people on WhatsApp if: (a) they have given you their mobile phone number; and (b) you have received opt-in permission from the recipient confirming that they wish to receive subsequent messages from you on WhatsApp

The opt-in must (a) clearly state that the person is opting in to receive messages from you over WhatsApp and (b) clearly state your business' name.

You are solely responsible for determining the method of opt-in, that you have obtained opt-in in a manner that complies with laws applicable to your communications, and that you have otherwise provided notices and obtained permissions that are required under applicable law. To help ensure a strong user experience, review the best practices suggested

below⁠

You must respect all requests (either on or off WhatsApp) by a person to block, discontinue, or otherwise opt out of communications from you via WhatsApp, including removing that person from your contacts list. Do not confuse, deceive, defraud, mislead, spam, or surprise people with your communications.

2. WhatsApp Business Platform Specific Terms

The below section on "Acceptable Message Types" only applies to the WhatsApp Business Platform. Acceptable Message Types:

You may only initiate conversations using an approved Message Template (as defined in our

documentation⁠

). This is considered a business-initiated conversation, which is subject to applicable pricing. Any Message Template must comply with our terms and these policies, and only be used for its designated purpose. We have the right to review, approve and reject any Message Template at any time.

You may reply to a user message without use of a Message Template as long as it's within 24 hours of the last user message. Conversations initiated by users open once the first business reply message is delivered.

Standard pricing⁠

applies for these user-initiated conversations. Outside the 24-hour customer service window, you may only send messages via approved Message Templates, for which we will charge

the business-initiated conversation rate⁠

You may use automation when responding during the 24-hour window, but must also have available prompt, clear, and direct escalation paths. These escalation paths include: In-Chat Human Agent transfer, Phone number, Email, Web support (on the business website), In-store visits (ex: visit retail store, bank branch), and support form

3. Protect Data & Comply with Law

You are responsible for and must secure all necessary notices, permissions, and consents to collect, use, and share people's content and information, including maintaining a published privacy policy, and otherwise complying with applicable law.

Don't use any data obtained from us about a person you message within WhatsApp, other than the content of message threads, for any purpose other than as reasonably necessary to support messaging with that person.

Don't share or ask people to share full length individual payment card numbers, financial account numbers, personal ID card numbers, or other sensitive identifiers.

Don't use WhatsApp for telemedicine or to send or request any health information, if applicable regulations prohibit distribution of such information to systems that do not meet heightened requirements to handle health information.

You may not forward or otherwise share information from a customer chat with any other customer.

4. Prohibited Organizations & Use

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

Meta Commerce Policy⁠

, then we may prohibit you from using some or all of the WhatsApp Business Services.

5. Enforcement & Updates

We may limit or remove your access to or use of the WhatsApp Business Services if you receive excessive negative feedback, cause harm to WhatsApp or our users, or violate or encourage others to violate our terms or policies, as determined by us in our sole discretion.

If you use or operate a service which utilizes WhatsApp in violation of our terms or policies, such as messaging people at scale in an unauthorized manner, we have the right to limit or remove your access to WhatsApp's services.

WhatsApp may update this WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy ("Change") without notice (unless such notice is required by law); by continuing to use the WhatsApp Business Services after such Change, you consent to such Change.

If we terminate your account for violations of relevant

WhatsApp Business terms⁠

or policies, we may prohibit you and your organization from all future use of WhatsApp products and services.

To learn more on our Platform Enforcement processes, please visit the

WhatsApp Business Platform Policy Enforcement⁠

____

Best Practices

Best Practices for Opt-In

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.

Best Practices for Impersonation

You may not use the WhatsApp Business Services to impersonate another business or entity, misrepresent your affiliation with a business or entity or otherwise mislead customers as to the nature of your business or activity on our products. We may consider your account to be impersonating a business or entity if you falsely adopt the name, brand or speak in the voice of another business or entity.

For more information, please refer to the

WhatsApp Business Terms of Service⁠

⁠

If we find that your account has been in violation of the

WhatsApp Business Terms of Service⁠

, we may ban your account. For more information on banned accounts, please refer to

this article⁠

in our Help Center.

If you believe a WhatsApp account is infringing your intellectual property rights, please

consult this page⁠

____

Steps to Take if Your Account is Suspended or Terminated

To maintain high quality conversations on the WhatsApp Business Platform as we scale, we enforce on WhatsApp Business Accounts that repeatedly violate the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy or WhatsApp Business Terms of Service.

If you believe your account has not violated our policies or terms, please consult the following resources for more information on how to appeal:

For more information on enforcement for the WhatsApp Business App, including how to appeal, please review

the Business Help Center page⁠

For more information on enforcement for the WhatsApp Business Platform, including how to appeal, please review

Policy Enforcement - WhatsApp Business Platform⁠

____

Policies for WhatsApp Commerce Features

The Commerce Policy is used to govern whether businesses can sell their products and services using WhatsApp commerce product features like catalog and payments.

If you use Catalogs on the WhatsApp Business app, or provide any other commerce experiences to sell goods or services, you must comply with the policies and prohibitions listed in the

Meta Commerce Policy⁠

as well as all applicable terms, laws and regulations.

You are solely responsible for your transactions and providing any sales terms, privacy terms or other terms applicable to your interactions with users.

We are not responsible for processing, paying for, or fulfilling any sales relating to your transactions.

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.

____

Policy on Government and Political Use

The following area provides policy guidance on government and political use of the WhatsApp Business Platform.

We permit the use of the WhatsApp Business Platform for government entities and require access through a Platform Partner (formerly known as Business Service Provider).

We prohibit the use of the WhatsApp Business Platform by Political Parties, Politicians, Political Candidates, and Political Campaigns.

We prohibit the use of the WhatsApp Business Platform by Law Enforcement Agencies, Military Services, National Security and Intelligence Agencies.

We prohibit the use of the WhatsApp Business Platform by entities that offer services related to politics, political candidates, political campaign strategy, political campaigning services, private companies that provide voting solutions and systems for elections, and exclusive government service providers.

For more information on government and political use, please visit our

Building Community on WhatsApp page⁠

. For more information on how to use WhatsApp responsibly please visit our

WhatsApp and elections page⁠

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