- Facebook parent Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ:META) again threatened to pull its popular Facebook and Instagram services from the European Union, pending a new transatlantic data transfer agreement, Bloomberg reports.
- Meta could face an imminent data flow ban from Ireland’s data protection watchdog that risks impeding transatlantic data flows.
- The Irish Data Protection Commission could shortly issue its decision on a possible ban on EU-US data transfers.
- The EU and U.S. in March broke a deadlock to reach a tentative deal on a new data-transfer pact. A top court struck a previous accord over concerns of U.S. agencies spying on the data.
- Meta reasoned that, pending a new transatlantic data transfer framework, it would be unable to continue to rely on SCCs, preventing it from offering its most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe.
- SCCs are an EU-approved data transfer tool that includes specific data protections for personal data and allows companies to ship data outside the bloc without violating the EU’s strict data protection rules.
- The European Data Protection Supervisor had launched two investigations into Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Meta’s cloud computing services to the EU institutions over concerns regarding data transfer to the U.S.
- Price Action: META shares traded lower by 1.79% at $157.84 on the last check Friday.
Jeff Bezos Sells Another $2B Worth of Amazon Shares, Now Holds 9.3% Stake: What Investors Should Know
The sale, executed in nine separate transactions across Friday and Monday, was made in accordance with a pre-established "Rule 10b5-1 trading plan" filed with the SEC in August 2023.