Mark Zuckerberg has just ‘threatened’ to close both Facebook and Instagram across Europe after being asked to do one thing, defying the law of an entire continent.

According to CNBC, Meta – Facebook’s parent company said it is considering shutting down Facebook and Instagram in Europe if it cannot continue to transfer user data back to the US.

Specifically, the social media giant made this warning in its annual report last Thursday.

Regulators in Europe are currently drafting new legislation regulating how EU citizens’ user data is transferred across the Atlantic.

“If a new transatlantic data transmission framework is not adopted and we cannot continue to rely on SCCs (standard contractual terms) or rely on other data transmission facilities,” Facebook said. As an alternative from Europe to the US, we wouldn’t be able to deliver some of our most important products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe.”

The company added this “will have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations”.

“Meta cannot just threaten the EU and give up data protection standards,” European lawmaker Axel Voss said via Twitter, adding that “it would be their loss to leave the EU”. Voss has previously written a number of European Union data protection laws.

A Meta spokesman told CNBC on Monday that the company has no desire and no plans to withdraw from Europe. Additionally, Meta said it had raised similar concerns in previous filings.

“But the simple fact is that Meta, and many other businesses, organizations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the US to operate global services,” they said.

The European Commission did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

In August 2020, the Irish Protection Commission sent Facebook a preliminary order to stop transferring user data from the EU to the US.

Nick Clegg, Facebook’s Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications, said: “The Irish Data Protection Commission has begun an investigation into the transfer of Facebook-controlled data between the US and the EU. They have suggested that SCCs cannot in fact be used to transfer data between the US and the EU,” Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs and communications, said in a post. posted on the blog at the time.

He added: “While this approach requires further processing, if followed, it could have far-reaching implications for businesses that rely on SCC and the online services that many people rely on. and businesses use”.

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is expected to make a final decision in the first half of 2022.

If SCC cannot be used as a legal basis for data transmission, Facebook will have to remove much of the data it collects about European users. The DPC could fine Facebook up to 4% of its annual revenue, or $2.8 billion, if the company fails to comply.

Judgment of the court

In July 2020, the European Court of Justice ruled that the data transmission standard between the European Union and the US did not adequately protect the privacy of European citizens.

The court, the European Union’s highest legal body, has restricted how US companies can send European user data to the US after concluding that EU citizens are in no way effective. results to challenge US government surveillance.

US agencies like the NSA could theoretically ask internet companies like Facebook and Google to turn over data about an EU citizen.