Facebook announced it would stop Huawei from pre-installing social networking apps on its smartphones to comply with US sanctions.

Facebook announced it will no longer allow pre-installation of its social networking apps on Huawei smartphones to comply with the US ban on the Chinese tech giant.

“We are reviewing the Commerce Department’s final rule and the more recently issued temporary general license and taking steps to ensure compliance,” a Facebook spokesperson told AFP.

The decision will not impact on customers who already have Huawei phones, but new devices will not have Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram apps pre-installed .

“ Facebook Inc is no longer allowing pre-installation of its apps on Huawei phones, the latest blow for the Chinese tech giant as it struggles to keep its business afloat in the face of a U.S. ban on its purchase of American parts and software.” reported the Reuters.

Facebook followed Google in the decision to ban the Chinese firm, recently Alphabet Inc’s Google has announced the suspension of some business with Huawei after Trump’s ban on the telco giant.

Everyone will buy a Huawei device will have no access to updates to Google Android and will have no access to Google services, including the Google Play Store and Gmail and YouTube apps.

Google confirmed that Huawei will only be able to use the public version of Android (Android Open Source Project (AOSP)), but the users of the Chinese giant will not be able to get access to proprietary apps and services from Google.

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – Huawei, Facebook)