Facebook leaving Europe? It’s not going to happen…
Last week, Facebook — sorry, Meta — boss Mark Zuckerberg insinuated that his company might be unable to operate in Europe if Brussels passes legislation preventing the export and processing of EU citizens’ data in the United States.
My thesis, based on Meta’s statement, is that this all goes back to a report submitted to the SEC with the previous quarter’s results, when it issued a warning, which is very different to a statement of intent. This explains the company’s haste in posting an article on its website headed “Meta is absolutely not threatening to leave Europe”. Let’s be honest, considering the impact leaving such an important market would have on the company’s revenues, it is practically impossible for it to consider doing so.
Europe is not just any old market. The combination of its size and purchasing power means no company in its right mind would consider leaving, no matter how difficult its regulations might be. Regarding the data export regulations between Europe and the United States, which were annulled by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2020 on the grounds that they did not adequately protect the privacy of European citizens, we should remember that Facebook continues to send our data to the United States on the grounds that this does not violate any law, and that it could therefore find that it can no…
