Meta could shut down Facebook and Instagram in Europe if the dispute over personal data is not resolved, according to a scenario raised by Mark Zuckerberg in a report, though downplayed by the company.
The information appeared in the annual report of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In his report, Zuckerberg denounces that the fact that the different European organizations have imposed on them that all the data of European citizens have to be processed in the old continent is “an injustice.”
According to reports in the American press, in fact, they are even thinking of closing some of their main services until the situation changes.
At the center of the conflict is the processing of personal data: if Meta is not given the option to transfer, store and use the data of its European users on US servers, then the giant could be forced to close some of its activities in The EU.
But Meta – the company that houses Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger – said today that it has “absolutely no desire and no plans” to withdraw from Europe.
“Companies fundamentally need clear, global rules to protect data flows between the United States and the European Union in the long term, and like more than 70 other companies in a wide range of industries, we are monitoring as the situation evolves. the potential impact on our European operations,” a spokesperson said.
“Simply put, Meta, like many other companies, organizations and services, relies on the transfer of data between the EU and the United States in order to offer global services,” he added.
“Like other companies, to provide a global service, we follow European standards and rely on standard contractual clauses and appropriate data protection measures,” the spokesperson concluded.
The controversy began in July 2020, when the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) determined that the company’s use of European user data did not comply with the General Data Protection Regulation.
In this resolution, the CJEU stated that the country receiving the data must offer a “level of protection substantially equivalent to that guaranteed within the Union”.
At that time, the Court considered that while in the European Union there are a series of guarantees for the treatment of secure user data, US legislation did not offer the necessary reciprocity framework.
Since then, the different European organizations decided to suspend the transfer of user data within the European Union to the United States.
According to the Austrian NGO Noyb, the social network has been deliberately breaching. “Facebook has concluded that the CJEU ruling does not apply to the company and that the transfer of (European) user data to the United States can continue as before,” the organization said.
Despite the attempts of the electronic giant to reverse the situation, the Court of Justice of the European Union has been forceful in its sentence. Now comes the company’s threat to leave the EU.
If we are unable to transfer data between the countries and regions in which we operate, or if we are restricted from sharing data between our products and services, it could affect our ability to provide our services, how we provide them, or our ability to target ads, which could negatively affect our financial results,” Zuckerberg’s report said, emphatically.
