New EU law requires businesses who collect data from users within the Union to save and process the info in European servers. The data from Instagram and Facebook however, are handled on US as well as European servers that are crucial to ads and companies operating on these social networks.
In the report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Meta claims that if the business fails to comply with the latest EU rules, it will just stop offering services like Facebook or Instagram accounts to the EU. Meta’s Vice President for Global Affairs, Nick Clegg claims that this could harm a large number of companies in the EU who depend on the advertising and services that the company offers.
The financial report of last week saw Meta’s stock fall by 25% as the company saw a drop in daily active customers for the very first time ever in. It’s possible that Meta may be trying to get itself into an advantageous negotiation position instead of actualizing threats.