Meta has “absolutely no desire to withdraw from Europe”. The company released the statement in a published on Tuesday after some media outlets published reports claiming it had “threatened” to pull Facebook and Instagram off the mainland amid uncertainty over whether the US and European Union would agree to replace a scrapped transatlantic privacy agreement.
The “threat” Meta made came in the form of a disclosure the company made on its . , the document said that the company would “probably not be able to offer many of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe” if the US and EU did not ratify a new data transfer agreement and the company couldn’t depend on other existing mechanisms. goal has in the past, but it did so without naming Facebook and Instagram specifically.
At the heart of Meta’s fears about its future on the European continent are the Safe Harbor Agreement and Privacy Shield, both of which were struck down by the European Court of Justice in recent years over fears of what will happen to EU citizens’ data when it is on servers in the US. . As the company points out, it is not the only company facing uncertainty over whether authorities can agree on a replacement. He notes that at least 70 other companies have expressed similar concerns.
“We want to see the fundamental rights of EU users protected and we want the internet to continue to function as it should: frictionless, in compliance with applicable laws – but not confined to national borders,” the company said.
For the most part, European lawmakers seemed to welcome the prospect of Meta leaving the EU market. “I can confirm that life is very good without Facebook and that we would live very well without Facebook” when asked to comment on the possibility of Meta pulling Facebook and Instagram. “Digital giants must understand that the European continent will resist and assert its sovereignty.”
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