Zoom temporarily removes Giphy integration from chat function

Zoom has temporarily removed Giphy’s integration from the chat portion of its video calling service. The company says it does this to ensure proper privacy for its users.

Zoom says the option to use gifs from the Giphy platform will return once “additional technical and security measures are in place.” This capability has been temporarily removed to ensure “strong privacy for users,” the company said. When exactly the Giphy integration will return is still unknown; Zoom does not provide further details.

The measure to temporarily disable Giphy in Zoom’s chat is part of a number of recent security measures. This includes, for example, measures such as the option to limit screen sharing and changes in how the mute function works. The latter refers to the situation that a host puts a participant on silent. This situation can then only be undone if the participant agrees.

Recently it was announced that Facebook is taking over the poison platform Giphy. The acquisition is said to be worth $400 million. Whether this acquisition has anything to do with Zoom’s measure to temporarily disable Giphy is unknown. It is also unclear whether the acquisition will have consequences for the integration of Giphy on platforms other than Facebook.