Meta Unplugs Cross-App Chats Between Instagram And Facebook Messenger

Instagram users will no longer be able to access their Facebook Messenger chats as Meta Platforms Inc META begins to disconnect this cross-app chatting feature.

What Happened: This move reverses Meta’s 2020 decision to integrate Messenger and Instagram chats. The integration aimed to provide users with an improved chatting experience, irrespective of the app they were using, 9to5Google reported.

The disconnection is set to take effect by mid-December 2023.

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Meta has not disclosed the reason for this change, but speculation suggests it may be related to the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in Europe. This legislation mandates large companies to ensure interoperability between their messaging platforms.

Meta’s other product, WhatsApp, has already started preparations to comply with the DMA, introducing a “Third-Party Chats” feature. It is possible that Meta is disconnecting the cross-app chatting feature to better align with the DMA’s requirements. Alternatively, this could be another step in Meta’s strategy to scale back Messenger following the loss of SMS/MMS capabilities on Android and the shutdown of Messenger Lite.

The company has provided a new support page detailing the changes that will occur once the feature is deactivated.

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