Facebook Blocks 'Hundreds of Thousands' of Apps Following Review

Facebook has reportedly blocked “hundreds of thousands” of apps following a review of third-party applications on their platform.

Following a review of apps on Facebook’s platform after the social media Master of the Universe dealt with a number of data scandals, the company has blocked a massive amount of apps for not following Facebook guidelines. The company announced that it would be strengthening its app review process in May and gave app developers a deadline of August 1 to alter their apps to stay within the new guidelines.

In a Facebook blog post, Facebook’s VP of Product Partnerships, Ime Archibong, stated: “We are cutting off API access for hundreds of thousands of inactive apps that have not submitted for our app review process… We’d encourage apps that are still being used but have not been submitted for app review to do so now. However, to ensure all apps currently in use go through our review process, we will be proactively queueing up apps for review.”

The new review process will require app developers to justify why their app needs certain API permission and access to certain areas of user data. App developers that currently have apps in review will not lose their API access as long as they continue to comply with Facebook’s Platform Policies.