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Facebook Messenger Breaking Changes for Europe

over 3 years ago by Tanuj Goyal

Facebook Messenger has announced some breaking changes as required to comply with new privacy rules in Europe (refer FAQs). The changes will come into effect on December 16th post which several Messenger APIs will not be available for developers, businesses, and customers based in Europe.

The changes apply to all of the 30 European Economic Area (EEA) countries, which includes:

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

The list of affected features is available on Facebook Messenger's documentation portal here.

Which imiconnect clients will be impacted?

The following imiconnect clients will be impacted by this change:

  • Clients based in Europe
  • All conversations on Europe based Facebook pages
  • All conversations on Facebook Pages with admins in Europe
  • Clients worldwide who use their Facebook Messenger page to chat with people in Europe.

Key Changes

Here's a brief summary of some of the key changes.

*Outbound Messages

  • Media/attachments (audio, video, files) other than images on new messages won't render in the thread. Media/attachments on existing messages will still be visible. As a workaround, the media attachment URLs can be shared as text. If you have set-up any imiconnect flows where you send media attachments you should review and update such flows.
  • Templates (Receipt Template, Airline Template) won’t render in the message thread because API calls will fail. Templates in existing messages will still be visible, but users won’t be able to take any action on them. If you're using these templates in any of your flows, you should replace them with a combination of text, quick replies, and web views as applicable.
  • Web URL Button fallback - The URL Button opens a webpage in the Messenger webview. This button can be used with the Button and Generic Templates. You can send the URL link directly in plain text instead of wrapping it with a URL button. Users will be able to click the plain text URL and the URL will open inside the Messenger in-app browser. You can also use a URL-shortener service to convert a lengthy URL to its short form so it easier for users to remember and type.

Inbound Messages and Events

  • Attachments will no longer be delivered. Only text messages from customers will be received on imiconnect.
  • Various inbound events such as message_deliveries, messaging_account_linking, messaging_optins, message_reactions, message_reads, messaging_referrals, etc. will not be delivered.

Persistent Menu

Users won't see the persistent menu. If you've configured your Facebook Messenger Experiences or journeys using the persistent menu feature, you should review and make relevant changes. Facebook suggests you can ask customers to message in a keyword like 'Menu' and in response can send them various quick replies as an alternative to the persistent menu.

User Profile API

You will no longer receive the user name of the customer you are engaging with using Facebook Messenger. If you've configured any flows wherein you use the username variable, you would need to review and update those flows.

*Messenger Entry Points - Web Plugins (Send to Messenger, and Checkbox Plugin)

If you have configured web plugins (ref: asset configuration page for Messenger in imiconnect), they will no longer be rendered for impacted pages, clients, and customers.

The above list is a summary of key changes. Please refer to the Facebook Messenger documentation for full list..