Apple has barred an important transparency notice within Facebook's app on iOS related to the App Store's policies. The in-app notice was meant to inform users about the 30% fee the App Store will take when they pay for access to online events, but that message isn't showing up at the moment.
Facebook has been forced to remove that notice in order to roll out a new feature it launched earlier this month that would allow small businesses and creators to host paid online events. The feature is designed to help Page owners generate revenue from their live streams by charging users who would like to watch their online events.
In an effort to further help small businesses amid the pandemic, Facebook won't be taking fees from paid events for the next 12 months. The social media company also asked Apple to waive the App Store's 30% cut, but its request was declined.
For transparency's sake, Facebook announced recently that it would label the event purchase page on iOS with a small notice stating that Apple is taking a 30% fee from the transaction. However, it appears now that Apple blocked that attempt, citing it as "irrelevant" based on App Store's rules. Here's Facebook's statement:
“Now more than ever, we should have the option to help people understand where money they intend for small businesses actually goes. Unfortunately Apple rejected our transparency notice around their 30% tax but we are still working to make that information available inside the app experience."
In addition, Facebook's in-app notice on Android telling users that it's waiving Play Store fees for online events isn't showing up either.
Source: Reuters
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