(PresidentialInsider.com)- Can you imagine a life without Facebook and Instagram? That might be a reality for Europeans very soon, as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has threatened to shut down access to its platform across the European Union in response to upcoming regulations that would stop the company from sharing user data with its U.S. teams.
In an annual report from Meta released last Thursday, Facebook warned that legislation currently being prepared by legislators in Europe could dramatically impact the way the company works. He said that if a new transatlantic data transfer framework isn’t adopted, then Meta would be unable to depend on standard contractual clauses or other alternative ways of transferring data from Europe to the United States.
“We will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe,” he said.
In response to the news, European Union legislators called Zuckerberg’s bluff, stating that life without Facebook is actually pretty good.
“After being hacked I’ve lived without Facebook and Twitter for four years and life has been fantastic,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck told reporters last Monday.
“I can confirm that life is very good without Facebook and that we would live very well without Facebook,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire also said.
A statement issued by a Facebook spokesperson said that Meta, the parent company that owns Facebook and Instagram, wanted to remain in Europe but that their business relies on data transfers between the U.S. and European Union to operate global services.
It turns out that the European Union might actually be good for something after all…
