Meta, formerly known as FACEBOOK, has raised the possibility of shutting down Facebook and Instagram across the European Union due to regulatory pressures.
Mark Zuckerberg is not going through his best moment. Facebook ‘s quarterly earnings release has led to a multi-billion dollar drop in shares, in part because many investors have seen the social network reach its zenith, and in part because the bet on the metaverse hasn’t panned out. still looks like a winning bet.
The company’s annual report includes a multitude of data, but it seems that one had gone unnoticed until now.
Facebook and Instagram could close in Europe
The company refers in said report to the obligation that has been imposed by European organizations to process all the data of the citizens of the old continent on servers hosted here, without being able to send the data to the United States.
Meta estimates that if they cannot analyze this data as they have done up to now, they may have to close Instagram and Facebook on our continent. Specifically, this is what the report marks (our translation):
“If a new framework for transatlantic data transfer is not adopted and we cannot continue to rely on SCCS or other alternative means of data transfers from Europe to the United States, it is likely that we will not be able to offer a number of our products and major services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe , which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.”
Those responsible for Facebook communication have not denied this information, and consider that this could be a terrible damage for small businesses. Obviously, this is a pressure strategy against European governments.
It is not a new strategy
This mention in the annual report of Facebook is not the first that the company makes in relation to the possibility of leaving Europe. Already in 2020 the company insinuated that if the conditions were not favorable they could have to stop operating in the territory of the European Union.
Already at the time Facebook indicated that it was not a threat, but a reality, something that for practical purposes is irrelevant since the end is that the company leaves, or not, European countries.
It is curious to see American publications envy this possibility, that Europeans are left without access to Facebook. It is clear that the reputation of the company is getting worse, beyond what the financial results indicate.
Update 13.42:
A spokesperson for Meta has bequeathed us the following statement:
“We have absolutely no desire and no plans to withdraw from Europe, but the simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organizations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the US in order to operate global services. Like other companies, we have followed European rules and rely on Standard Contractual Clauses, and appropriate data safeguards, to operate a global service. Fundamentally, businesses need clear, global rules to protect transatlantic data flows over the long term, and like more than 70 other companies across a wide range of industries, we are closely monitoring the potential impact on our European operations as these developments progress.”
It indicates that Meta does not intend to stop operating in Europe, but that the current reality is a problem. It is the same as they already pointed out in 2020.
