Facebook’s Parent Meta May Shut Down Facebook And Instagram In Europe Over Data-sharing Dispute

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.