Facebook and Instagram may be offline this summer

Facebook and Instagram may be taken offline in Europe this summer. An Irish watchdog ruled that parent company Meta cannot share data from Europeans with the United States. If the EU regulators agree to this, the social media platforms will no longer be usable with us.

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The dispute is the result of a lengthy legal battle between privacy activists and the US tech giant. In 2020, the existing agreement on data flows between the United States and the European Union was annulled by the European Court of Justice.

In March, parent company Meta said that in the absence of a new trans-Atlantic data transfer framework, it “will not be able to offer its core products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe.”

The EU and the US are currently negotiating a new text that would allow companies such as Meta to carry out transatlantic data transfers, regardless of the Irish ruling. In March, European watchdogs already reached a tentative political agreement with Washington. But negotiations on the legal details are deadlocked. It is rather unlikely that a final agreement will be reached before the end of this year.

A spokesman for Ireland’s data protection commission confirmed that they sent the blocking order to European regulators last Thursday. They are expected to take a position on this decision in the coming month.

“This draft decision, which is under review by the European data protection authorities, relates to a conflict between European and US law that is currently being resolved,” a Meta spokesperson said. Politico† “We are pleased with the agreement between the United States and Europe on a legal framework that allows for the continued cross-border transfer of data. We expect this framework will enable us to keep families, communities and economies connected.”

Facebook has more than 300 million daily active users in Europe, accounting for more than 10 percent of all users worldwide. There is an even higher percentage of Instagram users in Europe, accounting for more than a quarter of all users.

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