Facebook and Instagram may be shut down across Europe, parent company Meta has said, www.euronews.com reports.

The issue comes down to European data regulations that prevent Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, from transferring, storing and processing Europeans’ data on US-based servers.

In its annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the country’s financial authority, Meta warned that if no new framework is adopted and the company could no longer use the current model of agreements it would probably have to walk away from the continent.

Meta stated that processing user data between countries is crucial for business and advert targeting.

“​If we are unable to transfer data between and among countries and regions in which we operate, or if we are restricted from sharing data among our products and services, it could affect our ability to provide our services, the manner in which we provide our services or our ability to target ads,” the statement read.

Meta clarified that it thinks it will be able to reach a new agreement this year but if it does not, it stated: “We will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe”.

But the European Court of Justice in July 2020 annulled the treaty due to violations of data protection. The EU and US have said they are working on a new or updated version of the treaty.

Nick Clegg, Meta’s Vice President of Global Affairs, argued Europe without Facebook and Instagram would be detrimental to a lot of businesses in the EU.

“We urge regulators to adopt a proportionate and pragmatic approach to minimise disruption to the many thousands of businesses who, like Facebook, have been relying on these mechanisms in good faith to transfer data in a safe and secure way,” Clegg told the London newspaper City A.M. on Monday.

A spokesperson for Meta also told the publication: “We have absolutely no desire and no plans to withdraw from Europe, but the simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organisations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the US in order to operate global services.

“Like other companies, we have followed European rules and rely on Standard Contractual Clauses, and appropriate data safeguards, to operate a global service”.

Last week, Meta’s financial report saw its stock plummet by 25 per cent after the social media giant lost daily active users for the first time in its history.

Source: www.euronews.com