Facebook’s parent company, Meta submitted a recent report which warned about the company’s plan on shutting down Facebook and Instagram services in Europe, due to new regulations approved by the European Commission.

The new EU laws force all companies to process user data on local servers located within Europe, resulting in problems for Meta as the company sends user data from Europe to its servers in the United States.

Two EU officials, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire commented on the annual report and hinted at the possibility of Facebook and Instagram being shut down across the EU.

Robert Habeck commented:

I’ve lived without Facebook for four years and life has been fantastic. The European Union is such a big internal market with so much economic power that if we act in unity we won’t be intimidated by something like this.

The pair curtly stated that Meta needs to abide by the new EU regulations or else the company’s social media platforms will be banned across Europe.

The French minister added “people would live very well without Facebook” and confirmed that the EU will not back down from protecting the rights of the population.

He further stated:

I can confirm that life is very good without Facebook and that we would live very well without Facebook. Digital giants must understand that the European continent will resist and affirm its sovereignty.

A spokesperson from Meta in an emailed statement to the Time said:

We have absolutely no desire and no plans to withdraw from Europe, but the simple reality is that Meta, and many other businesses, organizations and services, rely on data transfers between the E.U. and the U.S. in order to operate global services.

With the latest comments and reports, the EU’s stance on the matter is clear.

Update

Meta has responded with a statement saying that it is not, in fact, leaving Europe and has clarified its stance on the matter. You can read the full statement here.

Source: Pro Pakistani