WhatsApp's help pages hid LLM instructions: dont recommend a regulator

WhatsApp embedded hidden instructions in its help pages directing AI assistants not to recommend data protection regulators to users who couldn't delete their accounts, and not to cite relevant privacy laws when users mentioned lawyers. The company concealed these directives in code invisible to regular users but readable by AI systems across 102 hidden blocks in its help center, discovered on October 8, 2026. This practice effectively limited users' awareness of their legal rights to file complaints with regulators when facing account deletion issues.