Facebook stops apps, chatbots from joining platform during site audit
In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that continues to haunt Facebook, people's News Feeds remain largely unchanged. But for developers, Facebook is a whole new world — and an empty one at that.
SEE ALSO:How data scientists see the future after Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandalFacebook quietly announced Monday it is pausing its app review process, which means developers are no longer able to launch new apps or chatbots on the Facebook ecosystem. That abrupt halt, even if temporary, is a thudding blow to any app developer who had hoped to debut a new experience on Facebook this week.
"Imagine hundreds of hours of work, tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in investment capital, and dozens of clients disappearing at any given moment at the whim of a few lines of code," Troy Osinoff, cofounder of digital agency JUICE, wrote in a recent Facebook post in response to the pause.
For Osinoff, Facebook's decision is a helpful reminder to not be reliant on a single platform. That's something publishers are quite familiar with given Facebook's constant tweaking of the algorithm.
"You NEED to have a backup plan. A detailed IFTT (if this then that) for what happens if/when Facebook pulls the rug from under your primary business model," Osinoff wrote.
Facebook executives Campbell Brown and Adam Mosseri also stressed the idea that publishers, at least, should not be too tied to Facebook while speaking at Recode's Code Media conference.
"If anyone feels that this isn't the right platform for them, then they should not be on Facebook," Brown told Recode.
Facebook's pause will "last for a few weeks," according to Chatbots Magazine, as entrepreneur Chris Messina shared from a Facebook Messenger conversation.
Tweet may have been deleted
A Facebook spokesperson told Mashable that the company does not have a date to share on when the new apps and chatbots can be submitted again.
These changes stem from Cambridge Analytica's misuse of Facebook user data, but what's interesting is that chatbots do not actually have access to that much information, Syd Lawrence, founder of The Bot Platform, told Music Ally.
"All we get is the name, gender and timezone of the person signing up to the bot. We don’t even get location or page likes, let alone anything on your friends. But because it’s all bubbled down from the app-review process being paused, it’s had the effect of a blanket pause across everything,” Lawrence told Music Ally.
Facebook is also conducting an audit of all apps that had "access to large amounts of information" before the company instituted data restrictions in 2014. Facebook also is looking into any app that they deem to be "suspicious," according to its blog post.
While the future of old Facebook apps is up in the air and new apps are unable to join the network, Facebook seems to hoping that developers say patient.
"On behalf of everyone on the Messenger team, we want to thank you all in advance for your patience, and for all the work you’ve done to make this the awesome global community it is," reads the Messenger Team's blog post.
Featured Video For You
(责任编辑:关于我们)
- Europe now has a huge AI gap, for better or for worse
- Google Assistant can now control GE's smart appliances
- Lyft is gunning for Delta customers by offering SkyMiles
- 市交警支队辟谣:目前暂无驾照扣分的新规出台
- Sports minister says audits into football, badminton federations set to conclude in Sept.
- Speeding space object triggered a warning. It wasn't an asteroid.
- Seoul faces dilemma in upcoming joint military drill
- Graceful dog jumps over doggy gate like it's NBD
- The top five Supreme Court nomination myths.
- Microwave technique recovers 87% of batteries' lithium in 15 minutes
- 沙棘原浆、新奇果干、空运牛羊肉……来江门邂逅甜蜜新疆
- Elon Musk cries for help with the name for his first Boring machine
- Mom finds very creative new use for her daughter's degree
-
Sports minister says audits into football, badminton federations set to conclude in Sept.
Yu In-chon (right), minister of culture, sports and tourism, speaks during a plenary session for the ...[详细] -
雅安日报讯“三八”妇女节前夕,石棉县法院、石棉县检察院、石棉县公安局等多家政法单位的干警纷纷走上街头开展法制宣传,帮助广大妇女群众增强法律维权意识。在活动中,石棉县法院将法律宣传与“反对家庭暴力构建和 ...[详细]
-
James Blunt announces new album in the most James Blunt way possible
LONDON -- Gather round, everyone -- James Blunt has something huge to show you.SEE ALSO:Ed Sheeran g ...[详细] -
Google just made a very subtle change to its Play Store logo and icons
Google's Play Store is getting a brand new look ... well, kind of.In a continuing effort refine the ...[详细] -
本报讯2024年秋季学期开学在即,市教育局提前谋划部署,抓细抓实控辍保学、师资优化、校园安全、后勤保障等工作,全力保障开学平稳有序。据悉,为进一步加强适龄人口失学辍学情况动态监测,市教育局建立全市适龄 ...[详细]
-
Lyft is gunning for Delta customers by offering SkyMiles
Lyft is teaming up with Delta Air Lines to offer you more reason to hail a ride. SEE ALSO:Check the ...[详细] -
President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / Korea Times fileInter-Korean military ho ...[详细]
-
Seoul spy agency: NK could return to dialogue with US
People bow before a mosaic of portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-Il, at ...[详细] -
CrowdStrike outage is still causing hundreds of flight cancellations daily
Three days after a faulty update in cybersecurity company CrowdStrike's software caused a global IT ...[详细] -
Moon declares support for int'l press freedom initiative
South Korean President Moon Jae-in formally expressed support Wednesday for a major press freedom in ...[详细]
Tesla's big software update includes something called 'Night Curfew'
Trump's POTUS Twitter account had an image from Obama's inauguration in 2009
- Sports minister says audits into football, badminton federations set to conclude in Sept.
- Sanders wins big in Alaska, Washington, and Hawaii.
- Man City's Kevin De Bruyne to consider future if European ban upheld
- CNN’s Anderson Cooper was cranky, and Donald Trump was a disaster.
- Anatomy of a Keyboard
- Tesla's vehicle engineering chief returns to Apple
- Was Virginia’s clearly racist gerrymandering unconstitutional?