Europe can lose Facebook and Instagram

You can imagine it on our continent the social networks Facebook and Instagram stopped working completely? And possibly connected services like Messenger? You may be one of their opponents and you would be happy to welcome something like that, but hundreds of millions of users would probably not be of the same opinion and the world of social networks would be enormous. At the same time, it seems to be a real threat. In its annual report, Meta told the EU authorities that if it did not change rules for intercontinental data transmission users, so Europe can lose these networks.

“Unless a new transatlantic data transfer framework is adopted and we can no longer rely on SCC or other alternative modes of data transfer from Europe to the United States, we may not be able to offer many of our most important products and services in Europe.” including Facebook and Instagram, ”Stands in a few days old document.

SCC stands for Standard Contractual Clauses, ie mutual consent to the processing of data and their transfer outside European territory. Until mid-2020, this method complied with the GDPR regulations, but until a judgment known as “Schrems II” arrived. He provided that outside EU servers, data is not protected in the same way as on our continent, and stricter conditions are therefore needed for transmissions.

In the document, Meta complains that if the current situation remains valid, ie that data transfer from the EU to the USA will not be possible, its business in our region is very limited. The reaction of the American company does not mention in full detail whether ordinary users would also lose access to the Facebook and Instagram networks, but since the whole system of advertisements on which the services are based is at stake, this would probably happen. Mark Zuckerberg and colleagues expect to be clear in the first half of the year this year.

How often do you use Facebook and Instagram?

Hello: iTWire