Facebook and Instagram may withdraw from Europe as they cannot process data on US servers

Last day three, we learned that Facebook, Meta’s social network, lost users for the first time in its history, reflected in a drop in its shares. We know today is not good news for the social network either. Facebook and Instagram may disappear from Europe. This is because Meta needs a permit to transfer, store and process data from social networks on servers hosted in the United States, as we can read in City AM.

An essential requirement for the provision of its services is to share data between different countries, which was previously done with the so-called Privacy Shield. But the Court of Justice of the European Union annulled it last July 2020 as it violated data protection. It also used standard agreements or clauses to process the data on servers in the United States.

The response has been clear and forceful; without carrying out this type of transfer, the growth of data-based companies in the European territory can be hindered. It would not be possible, for example, to use a cloud service provider whose servers are in the United States, nor to contract other services outside the European Union. It has also clarified that it does not want to leave the European territory, but it will need these permits to continue operating, like many other companies.