The company formerly known as Facebook is threatening to suspend its services (yep, including Facebook and Instagram) in Europe. This is according to Meta’s annual report for the Securities and Exchange Commission which was filed on Thursday.
It seems European data regulations may prevent Meta from functioning properly in the region. These regulations bar any company from hosting Europeans’ data on servers outside of the continent. This is thanks to robust user privacy laws which aim to protect users’ data by keeping it within the European jurisdiction.
Meta’s collecting its toys, ready to leave
Meta kind of relies on its ability to use and store user data in different regions – the main one being located in the US. Storing user data offshore is apparently “crucial for its business both operationally and for ad targeting,” according to Mashable.
“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,” the statement reads.
Europeans may not be so lucky to lose the cesspit that is Facebook yet, however. It seems Meta is still open to discussing its options with the region. If it doesn’t like the options, however, it states that “… we will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe.”
The company’s gone and threatened that the repercussions of not finding a workaround could end in it pulling its services from the region. Which doesn’t seem all that bad if you think about it. Losing Facebook and Instagram could only mean our mental health is bound to improve. But it makes a fairly good point in saying that this will affect many small businesses that make use of the platforms to reach customers.
UPDATE: Meta South Africa contacted Stuff and a spokesperson said: “We have absolutely no desire and no plans to withdraw from Europe, but the simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organisations 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.”
