Facebook Messenger and Instagram cross-platform chats to be killed; Know how it will hit you

Meta Platforms is quietly starting to roll back the cross-platform chats feature it added to Facebook Messenger and Instagram that allowed users to send and receive messages from their contacts on the other platform. So, how will it affect users? As per the company, the ability for users to send a message to someone on Instagram while using Messenger or vice versa will be killed off by mid-December 2023. Alongside this, users of one platform will not be able to see the activity status of the users on the other platform in the message window.

This was first reported by 9to5Google which found the information on Instagram’s support page. Interestingly, neither of the platforms has officially announced this, despite being just 10 days away from the scheduled discontinuation of the feature.

Meta to roll back cross-platform chats between Facebook Messenger and Instagram

This feature was first introduced in 2020 when the company announced “We’re connecting the Messenger and Instagram experience to bring some of the best Messenger features to Instagram”. Now, three years later, this feature is finally being discontinued, although the company has yet to give a reason for the decision.

As per the 9to5Google report, one reason for the move could be Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which has added strict regulations for interoperability between large messaging platforms. Another DMA rule that might be in play is around data leakage. The DMA prevents large companies from sharing their user’s personal data across its products for targeted advertising without user consent. As such, a closed cross-platform chat feature that does not share the data with third-party apps can come under the Bloc’s scanner.

How does this impact users

One obvious loss to users will be the ability to text their contacts on Instagram or Facebook Messenger while using its features without having to download a second app. But the support page also mentions a few other things that are set to change.

Once cross-app communication isn’t available:

• You won’t be able to start new conversations or calls with Facebook accounts from Instagram or vice versa.
• Any existing chats on Instagram that you’ve had with Facebook accounts will become read-only, even if these Facebook accounts are removed from the chat. This means that you and others with Instagram accounts can’t send new messages in these chats.
• Facebook or Instagram accounts won’t be able to view your Activity Status or whether you’ve seen a message.
• Any existing chats you've had with Facebook or Instagram accounts won't move to your inbox.