A message within Facebook and Instagram applications on iOS devices explains to Apple users that the tracking that Facebook (which also owns Instagram) monitors its users, other applications and websites, allows it to continue to provide its services for free.
As you may recall, Apple last week updated the company’s devices to the iOS 14.5 operating system, which brings with it strict restrictions on apps that transfer personal information for the purpose of customizing advertisements and allows users to turn off tracking – which can severely hurt advertising companies. According to Facebook, the use of information is intended to improve the users’ advertising experience, to allow the continued use of Facebook for free and to allow small businesses that depend on advertisements to reach customers.
The use of intimidation techniques is not new to Facebook since Apple’s announcement of the new restrictions, and it insists, among other things, that they harm small businesses. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg even said last January that “Apple has every reason to use its dominant platform to intervene in the way our app and others work, to give preference to its apps. It affects the growth of millions of businesses around the world.”
Facebook’s new post comes in stark contrast to past social network founders and founders that its service will remain a free service forever.