Meta recently announced that it is considering shutting down Facebook and Instagram in Europe. The reason for this can be a law of the EU, requiring companies to localize the personal data of users in the EU; and prohibiting their sending to servers outside Europe.
Facebook and Instagram in Europe
Meta doesnât like all this, because then it will lose a solid profit thanks to targeted advertising. Therefore, it tried to issue a warning to stop Facebook and Instagram from working in the European Union. But the strategy did not work, the EU officials are not shy guys. They made it clear that the loss is small and users in Europe will be able to exist just fine without these social networks. Moreover, there will always be those who will not mind occupying the vacated niche and working according to the rules of the European Union.
The wide publicity and informational noise caused Meta to issue a statement, the meaning of which “we were misunderstood.” The company said it has no desire to leave Europe and has not threatened to close access to its core resources such as Facebook and Instagram. It noted that it “identified the business risk associated with uncertainty regarding international data transfer.”
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âInternational data transfers underpin the global economy and support many of the services that are fundamental to our daily lives. Businesses across industries need clear, global rules to protect transatlantic data flows over the long term.â Meta said.
Obviously, the threats to disable Instagram and Facebook are just a trick and a manipulation attempt. And when it didnât pass, the company tries to justify itself by saying that there was a misunderstanding.
Meta’s problems in Europe
It is worth mentioning that recently, social media giant Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms, is being sued in the UK for more than $3.2bn. The plaintiff alleges that the company abused its dominant market position; by benefiting from access to the personal data of 44 million users.
Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, senior adviser at the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and competition law specialist; said she was acting on behalf of people in the UK who used Facebook between 2015 and 2019.
The lawsuit alleges that Facebook made billions of pounds by imposing unfair conditions that required consumers to provide valuable personal data to access the network.
In response, Facebook said that people used its services because they benefited them; and “they had real control over what information they shared on the Meta platforms and with whom.”
