Meta To Discontinue Cross-App Messaging Between Facebook And Instagram (Image: Unsplash)

Tech giant Meta Platforms is all set to end the cross-messaging support between Facebook Messenger and Instagram. Starting in mid-December, cross-app communication between Messenger and Instagram will cease to function. Meta has not yet specified a reason for this decision.

“Beginning in mid-December 2023, you will no longer be able to chat with Facebook accounts on Instagram,” wrote Instagram on its support page. Once cross-app communication ends, users will not be able to start new conversations or calls with Facebook accounts from Instagram. Also, existing chats of users on Instagram that they had with Facebook accounts will become read-only. Read receipts and activity status will no longer be visible for Facebook accounts. The social media platform also informed users that the existing chats users had with Facebook accounts would not migrate to their inbox on Facebook or Messenger.

Meta introduced cross-app communication between Messenger and Instagram in September 2020. According to 9to5Google, which spotted this development first, this move may be to Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). This significant law aims to make digital markets in the European Union fairer and more contestable. According to the EU”s Digital Markets Act (DMA), instant messaging and real-time media apps in Europe will be required to communicate with other services by March 2024. Meta might be focusing on broader DMA-compliant interoperability within Facebook Messenger. Earlier, Apple announced that it will support Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging on iPhones by 2024. Reports suggest that this change might have come in response to regulatory pressure from the European Union’s DMA.