Three years after its launch, Meta has decided to disable the cross-messaging feature of Facebook and Instagram.
The company introduced cross-app chats in 2020, making it easy for users of the two platforms to talk to each other. There were even plans to expand interoperability, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying at one point that he wanted all of Meta's messaging apps to work together. But those dreams have been crushed because they were recently updated Instagram Help Center page states that communications will end sometime “mid-December 2023.” An exact date was not given.
The support website explains what happens after deactivation. In addition to no longer being able to “start new conversations or calls,” all existing chats created with a Facebook account will now become read-only. Facebook users, in turn, cannot see an Instagram profile's activity status or view read receipts. Additionally, Meta does not move conversations to Messenger. If you want to start a new chat, you will have to start from scratch on the respective platform.
Preparing for the future
Currently we have no idea why this is happening. Meta has yet to make an official announcement explaining the move. However, 9To5Google Theorizes that it could have something to do with the European Digital Market Act (DMA).
To give you a crash course, the European Union adopted the DMa in 2022 as a way to prevent big tech companies (or “gatekeepers” as the bill calls them) from gaining a monopoly over the tech industry. One of the provisions in the law is that these large companies must “provide interoperability between messaging platforms” and fall under the jurisdiction of the EU. It's important to point out that Meta has been scaling back its Messenger service for a while now, including ending support for the SMS standard and Exit Messenger Lite.
The company could instead support WhatsApp as the main DMA-compatible messaging service. WABetaInfo has found evidence last September, with Meta working to allow WhatsApp users to send text messages to third-party apps. No word on when this support will be officially released, but it could be soon. Any company designated as a gatekeeper by the DMA must comply with the law no later than March 6, 2024.
We reached out to Meta to ask if they could provide an exact date when the cross-chat feature will go offline and explain why they are doing this. The story will be updated at a later date.
While you wait, check out Ny Breaking's list of the best encrypted messaging apps for Android in 2023.