Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is threatening to shut down its social networks in Europe: Instagram and Facebook. In question, the impossibility of storing the data of users from the old continent on American servers.
Europeans soon deprived of Facebook and Instagram? It is in any case a possibility considered by Meta. The American company brandishes this threat in an annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). His wish is to be able to continue to store data from European users in the United States.
Facebook fears having to comply with European data protection regulations, much less flexible than its American version, which would require it to store EU user data on-site.
Could Facebook close in Europe?
Until now, Meta was protected by the Privacy Shield, agreement on personal data signed between the European Union and the United States. This agreement was repudiated in 2020 by the European Court of Justice, which judges that user data is less well protected in the country of Uncle Sam than on the old continent. The Meta case is therefore being examined by Europe and Mark Zuckerberg’s company wants a new agreement to be found to continue storing its data outside the EU.
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In its report to the SEC, Meta indicates that this way of processing user data is vital for online advertisinge, his main source of income. Without it, the Palo Alto company could simply choose to abandon the European continent. It is recalled that Meta is going through a difficult period, the price of its share having plummeted by 23% on the stock market last week.
It remains to be seen how things will turn out. If Europe can easily do without Meta, Can Meta do without Europe? Not only would it be depriving itself of millions of users, but also of a good number of professionals who use its platform and its tools. This threat doesn’t actually seem serious and actually looks more like a food for thought than anything else.
Currently, the European Union and the United States are working on a new version of the Pivacy Shield which could comply with the new GDPR rules implemented in Europe.
Source: City AM
