Facebook Messenger features not available in Europe; Nicknames feature gone

Facebook has recently released several new features which allows users to merge Instagram and Messenger platforms together which makes texting easier. According to an official blog post, the organisation had to remove various features of Facebook Messenger and Instagram due to the "new rules for messaging services in Europe." Here is all you need to know about it.

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Facebook Messenger features not available in Europe

Facebook Inc has officially announced that the organisation will have to temporarily remove some of the features from the European region. The social media giant says: “This is to respect new rules for messaging services in Europe. We’re working to bring them back.” Backing this, many users in the region reported seeing this message while using the platforms.

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Nevertheless, the blog post by the organisation did not contain the number of features that are going to be disabled in the region. Nevertheless, the support pages lists down all the features that are removed from Facebook Messenger and Instagram. Below is the list, have a look -

• Running polls on group chats
• Lack of stickers on Instagram
• Personalised replies on messenger
• Facebook Messenger Nicknames gone
• No augmented-reality (AR) filters available in direct messages (DMs) on Instagram.

According to MessengerPeople.com, the following features will no longer be available in Facebook Messenger:

• Audio, video and document integration, meaning nothing but text can be sent.
• Buttons (restriction desktop – mobile still possible)
• Galleries (restriction desktop – mobile still possible)
• Persistent menu
• Handover protocol (One time Notification API)
• Other graphic elements

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Looking at the list many of the user favourites like the ability to give nicknames, AR filters and more are leaving Facebook Messenger and Instagram. As mentioned before, this move has been taken due to the new data usage rules in the European Union (EU) countries which come under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive (ePrivacy Directive).

However, users will be able to enjoy text messaging and calling options. The organisation in an official statement to the BBC said: “We’re still determining the best way to bring these features back. It takes time to rebuild products in a way that work seamlessly for people and also comply with the new regulation.” This reveals that the features would be back soon. But, many users have reported that shared photos disappeared on Facebook Messenger which is not listed in the disabled features list.

Facebook Messenger Europe rules will bring changes to -

• Europe pages in all chats
• Pages with admins in Europe in all chats
• Any chats with people in Europe

Impacted countries: All of the 30 European Economic Area (EEA) countries, which includes:

• All 27 European Union member states
• Norway
• Iceland
• Liechtenstein
• United Kingdom

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