Instagram and Facebook will shut down across Europe if Meta is not given the choice to transfer, store, and process data from its European users on US-based servers, the social media companies’ owner allegedly warned in its annual report.
Transatlantic data transfers are a major concern for Meta, which are governed by the so-called Privacy Shield and other model agreements that Meta employs or utilized to keep data from European customers on American servers. In the EU, the present data transfer agreements are currently being scrutinized.
Facebook And Instagram Will Be Shut Down If EU Does Not Change Policies
Meta cautions in its yearly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission that if a new framework is not developed and the firm is no longer permitted to utilize the present model agreements “or alternatives,” the company would face serious consequences.
Many of the company’s goods and services, including Facebook and Instagram, will be discontinued. For the provision of its services and targeted advertising, data sharing between nations and regions is critical.
As a result, it previously utilized the Privacy Shield transatlantic data transfer framework as the legal foundation for those data transfers.
The European Court of Justice, however, declared this pact null and void in July 2020, citing data protection issues. Since then, both the EU and the US have stated that they are working on a new or amended deal.
Meta additionally employs so-called model agreements, or Standard Contractual Clauses, as the principal legal basis for processing data from European users on American servers, in addition to the Privacy Shield. These model agreements are being scrutinized in Brussels and across the EU.
Two EU officials, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire responded to Meta’s yearly report and the risk of Facebook and Instagram being shut down across the EU. Meta must comply with the new EU standards or its social media sites will be outlawed across Europe.
“Life without Facebook is beautiful,” Habeck remarked, while Le Maire added, “people would live quite well without Facebook,” while reiterating that the EU will not back down from preserving its citizens’ rights.
