Rumors have been floating around regarding Facebook and Instagram threatening to pull their services out of Europe.
This has propped up after the transatlantic privacy agreement between Europe and the USA, which has flamed uncertainties of social media giant’s future in the region.
It has come up after Europe’s Court of Justice struck down Safe Harbor and Privacy Shield agreement earlier, which paved the way for data exchange conflicts.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, have categorically denied any such claims of pulling out in their blog post:
| We have absolutely no desire to withdraw from Europe; of course we don’t. But the simple reality is that Meta, like many other businesses, organisations and services, relies on data transfers between the EU and the US in order to operate our global services. We’re not alone |
In a detailed post, Meta talked about “identifying business risks involved” in the international exchange of data transfers and the risk involved through such agreements.
Where does Meta Stand?
Meta has made it clear of their intentions of not wanting to leave Europe while valuing the privacy of the users according to the prevailing laws. For now they have laid out the risks involved with the privacy agreements.
The company has however hinted at their shortcomings in offering specific services and products in Europe, if the US-Europe data privacy agreement is not ratified in time.
