Meta considers possibility of Facebook and Instagram leaving Europe
19:04
The sentence hidden on the far thirty-sixth page of the annual Meta report for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) envisages a scenario where Mark Zuckerberg's company may completely stop supporting Instagram and Facebook in Europe. There is a moot point in European data laws that prevent Meta from downloading Europeans' data onto US servers.
Meta states that the ability to process user data between countries is critical to its business, both operationally and in ad targeting. European laws designed to protect privacy by storing user data within European Union jurisdictions have invalidated Meta's previous practices.
Meta was unable to enter into new data-sharing agreements. This is why Mark Zuckerberg's company may leave Europe with Facebook and Instagram.
The place of Facebook and Instagram could be successfully taken by other platforms, but the problem does not lie with users who use social media for entertainment. Lots of companies use ads on Facebook and Instagram. It is often a way to contact customers and sell products. For European entrepreneurs, this scenario may therefore be a threat.
