Why does Facebook want to have UK users? Because he gets paid for advertising. Who advertises on Facebook and targets UK users? Companies in the UK. Who contr

Why does Facebook want to have UK users? Because he gets paid for advertising. Who advertises on Facebook and targets UK users? Companies in the UK. Who controls the banking system through which that money flows? The UK banking system. There are many sanctions the UK can impose short of a full ban. They can issue fines (and collect them), interfere with the Facebook cash flow, in the case of things that are crimes in both the UK and the US can formally request extradition, etc. I think the HN crowd has been reading a bit too much cyberpunk.