Yesterday, when the news began to circulate that Meta had threatened the closure of Facebook and Instagram in Europe, many suspected that it was a bluff or even a hoax.
Meta’s denial
The official denial followed promptly, as Meta has stated explicitly in an official note that at present there are no plans to close Facebook and Instagram in Europe.
The note, however, adds that there are some concerns.
Why Facebook and Instagram risk closure in Europe
In fact, the company, which also owns WhatsApp, reports that it is monitoring the potential impact of the ban on transcontinental data collection and storage imposed by the European Union.
In fact, the issue concerns precisely the data regarding European citizens that Meta’s platforms, primarily Facebook and Instagram, collect and store.
The problem lies in the fact that European regulations do not tolerate that data concerning citizens residing in EU countries are sent to data centers located in foreign countries. While they accept that such data can be sent to EU countries different from those of collection, they do not tolerate that they are sent for example to the US without explicit permission.
Facebook sends and keeps those data in different data centers, including those located in the United States, where it is based.
Meta is evaluating how to behave, especially because, apparently, the US would like to have access to those data. The company therefore finds itself between two fires, and will have to study a solution.
Given the situation, in the recent report on the company (listed on the stock exchange) delivered to the SEC, Meta explicitly feared the hypothesis of being forced to stop some of its services in Europe, because of the new privacy rules.
However, this was only a hypothesis, at present only theoretical, given that the possible abandonment of the European market would cause turnover and profits to collapse.
Meta falls again on the stock exchange
Financial markets have not reacted very well to this news, as yesterday Meta share has lost another 5%, after the collapse of last week. So instead of rebounding, as often happens in these cases, the stock is continuing to lose.
The loss accumulated since the close of 2 February now exceeds 30%, or almost a third of the total value. And apparently, the problems for Facebook are not over yet.
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