Facebook Messenger API feature deprecation
Starting on December 16, 2020 new privacy rules are taking effect in the European Economic Area (EEA). To comply with these new rules, Facebook deprecated several of their Messenger API features. The countries affected by this new privacy rule include:
- All 27 European Union member states
- Norway
- Iceland
- Liechtenstein
- United Kingdom
These new privacy rules apply to:
- Businesses based in the EEA, and
- Individuals based in the EEA who interact with businesses outside of the EEA
This means that if you’re a brand or business based in the aforementioned list, or if you receive inbound messages from users based in the aforementioned list, you will notice some changes in Sprout for Facebook, Reporting and Bots. The rest of this article captures those changes.
Facebook impacts
The following changes impact both EEA-based accounts in Sprout (no matter who the account is interacting with) and any EEA-based users:
- Facebook Private Message replies can’t include PDF attachments when sent to EEA users or from EEA-based businesses from the Chat view in Sprout.
- Private Messages that contain media or an attachment appear as “Unsupported Attachment” in the Smart Inbox and Chat view. Prior to sending attachments, EAA users see a warning letting them know the business may not receive attachments.
- EEA Facebook users appear with just their name and not their profile picture in the Smart Inbox and Chat view.
Reporting impacts
The following change impacts both EEA-based accounts in Sprout, no matter who the account is interacting with and any EEA-based users:
- Instagram Story Replies for Instagram Stories created by users in the EEA won't appear in Sprout reports.
- Instagram Story Replies from EEA users are no longer counted in metrics and won’t appear in Sprout reports.
Instagram Story Replies are included in Sprout’s engagement calculation, this may impact the values presented for Engagements and Engagement Rate calculations in Sprout reports.
Bots impacts
The following changes impact both EEA-based accounts in Sprout (no matter who the account is interacting with) and any EEA-based users:
- Button and Media templates won’t appear in Bot flows for EEA web users.
- Existing Bot templates are still available in messages, but EEA users can’t take action on them.
- The templates still work for mobile users regardless of location.
- The URL Button won’t appear in Bot flows for EEA web users.
- Existing Bot URL buttons still appear in existing messages, but EEA users can’t take action on them.
- The URL Button still works for mobile users regardless of location.
- The typing indicator is no longer available for Bot flows for EEA users.
- The persistent menu option still appears for the Bot flow, but EEA users won’t see this menu when interacting with a Sprout Bot.
Note: Sprout recommends EEA accounts modify their Bots to not include persistent menus, media templates and link templates, to avoid any issues.
Additional resources
For more information regarding these Facebook Messenger API updates, see Facebook for Developers FAQ.
For additional details about specific deprecated API Features, see Messenger API Updates for Europe.
If you run into any issues or have any additional questions, contact Sprout Support.
Comments 0 comments
Article is closed for comments.