Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is threatening to shut down its services in Europe! Reason: European data protection. This emerges from the annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
By Thomas Porwol
Because Meta would like to transfer the data of its European users to US servers and process it there. Previously, this data exchange was regulated by the so-called EU-US Privacy Shield. But this agreement was overturned by the European Court of Justice in the summer of 2022. According to the judges, the European user data on the American servers is not sufficiently protected against access by US authorities and secret services.
Now Facebook is threatening consequences for European users. Unless a new framework for transatlantic data exchange is created, “we will probably not be able to offer our most important products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe,” says the annual report.
Because: Without data exchange, Meta could not, for example, display targeted advertising to users, “which could have a negative impact on our financial results.” Targeted advertising tailored to users is one of Facebook’s central business models.
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In plain language, this means: Meta fears for its balance sheet and is now trying to put pressure on the EU. On the other hand, it is rather unlikely that Meta will actually take it seriously and withdraw two of the largest social networks from an entire continent.
Facebook loses users
Just last week, the Facebook group Meta severely disappointed its investors with its figures for the past quarter. The number of daily active users on Facebook fell slightly within three months: from 1.930 to 1.929 billion. In the same quarter of the previous year, it had grown by 25 million. In response, the stock fell more than 20 percent at times.
Meanwhile, group sales grew year-on-year by a fifth to almost 33.7 billion dollars (around 29.8 billion euros). The bottom line is that profits fell by eight percent to almost 10.3 billion dollars.