Zoom tentatively suspend Giphy from its chat feature

Zoom has temporarily disabled the integration of GIF platform Giphy in its chat feature, the company said in a blog post. “Once additional technical and security measures have been deployed, we will re-enable the feature.” Zoom didn’t offer any specifics beyond that on Giphy’s removal.



Zoom also explained that the change is a part of its latest list of security updates to the platform, which also includes limits on screen sharing, changes to muting and unmuting functions, and restrictions on logging in to meetings from multiple devices (for meetings that require registration).

This latest move by Zoom comes just a few days after Facebook acquired Giphy for over $300 million, with plans to integrate it into Instagram. How the acquisition will affect other platforms like Twitter, TikTok, and iMessage, all competitors to Facebook, remains unclear, but Facebook has had well-documented issues with privacy and security.

At the time of the Facebook acquisition, Giphy’s GIFs did not use any embedded tracking, and its API did not have access to users’ data, according to the company.

Zoom also has had its fair share of security problems as demand for its service surged during the coronavirus pandemic.