Facebook’s parent Meta is considering shutting down Facebook and Instagram in Europe if it continues to be unable to transfer user data back to the US. The company said “If a new transatlantic data transfer framework is not adopted and we are unable to continue to rely on SCCs (standard contractual clauses) or rely upon other alternative means of data transfers from Europe to the United States, we will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe”, adding that the inability to transfer data “would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations”.
Some parties seemed disgusted by the Facebook statement. For example, a tweet from European lawmaker Axel Voss, who has previously written some of the EU’s data protection legislation, reads “Meta cannot just blackmail the EU into giving up its data protection standards”, adding that “leaving the EU would be their loss”.
A Meta spokesperson, however, said on Monday that the company has no intention or plans to withdraw from Europe adding that this has been mentioned in older filings. “But the simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organizations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the U.S. in order to operate global services”, the spokesperson said.
The intention to shut down Facebook and Instagram follows shortly after the company reported disappointing results for the fourth quarter of 2021. Its shares fell more than 20 percent in extended training after the company published its earnings adding that user growth had stagnated alongside weak guidance. The report for the fourth quarter is Facebook/Meta’s first since it changed its name in reference to the Metaverse, stating that the name represented its venture into other businesses apart from its social media business.
Ibhadojemu Lucky Emmanuel is a graduate of Education and Economics from the University of Benin. He has a passion for tech and business and has been writing professionally for over a period of five years. He's written across various topics and segments and knew tech-business was it when he first stumbled on it. He has a great passion for music and arts, and wants to visit as many countries as he can someday.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
