Meta Reportedly Considering Shutting Down Facebook and Instagram in Europe

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European data regulations are becoming a big issue for a lot of companies that rely upon user data for their revenue, chief among them Meta’s apps Facebook and Instagram.

Photo by Muhammad Asyfaul

In fact, if the company can’t process user information stateside, they might just pull the plug on their apps in the EU market entirely according to a new report.

“​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,” a statement from Meta reads in part.

Coming on the heels of one of the largest losses in corporate history, Meta probably doesn’t want to layer a potential withdrawal from European markets on top of that unless they’ve got a good reason to do that and, for companies that use Facebook and related services in Europe, the thought of losing it might help accrue allies to Meta’s cause.

So, where does Meta go from here? Well, negotiations are underway to figure everything out as far as sending data across countries is concerned. But, in the meantime, Meta isn’t mincing words about what it plans on doing if things don’t work out, and we can’t think they’re the only company that is pondering such a move.

“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,” Meta told Euronews.Next regarding the potential withdrawal.

It’s been a rough patch for the company, with 2021 seeing nothing less than a name change on top of a slew of controversies that we covered right here. It should be interesting to see where things go from here.

What do you think of the prospect of Meta shutting down in Europe? Are they just bluffing? Let us know what you think of this data-privacy spat in the comments below.

Check out some of our other photography news on Light Stalking at this link right here.

[Euronews]

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Kehl is our staff photography news writer since 2017 and has over a decade of experience in online media and publishing and you can get to know him better here and follow him on Insta.

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