Technology giant Meta announces that it might shut down the operation of its social media platform Facebook in Europe. This information was revealed in the company’s annual report for the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The European data regulations norms do not allow Meta to store user data in servers located in the United States, causing this new trouble for the company.
Meta claims that the capacity to process user data across borders is critical to its company, both in terms of operations and ad targeting. In recent years, the European Union has taken multiple measures to prioritize the data privacy of users for providing a secure web experience to citizens.
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Meta’s statement mentioned, “If we are unable to transfer data between and among countries and regions in which we operate, or if we are restricted from sharing data among our products and services, it could affect our ability to provide our services, the manner in which we provide our services or our ability to target ads.”
It further mentioned that a number of our most essential products and services, such as Facebook and Instagram, will very likely be unavailable in Europe. Meta highlighted a 2020 judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which provided a framework for data transfers from Europe to the United States.
Last year, the European Court of Justice declared this treaty null and void because of data protection violations. After this decision of the European Court of Justice, both sides have stated that they are working on a new or amended deal.
Apart from Privacy Shield, Meta also uses so-called model agreements, or Standard Contractual Clauses, as the principal legal basis for processing data from European users on American servers.
