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I wonder what would happen if Facebook choose to pull out of the EU with a large banner "Due to new EU regulations, we have to stop operations until regulations

by jmclnx 6y ago

I wonder what would happen if Facebook choose to pull out of the EU with a large banner "Due to new EU regulations, we have to stop operations until regulations change". Would there be a large public outcry ? Me, I would like to see facebook, google, apple... reigned in, but they have a large bank account where that can "donate" to pols, so we will probably see a big loophole appear.

jlelse 6y ago
I wouldn't find it bad for Facebook to be banned in Europe. This would be a chance for less data-hungry messaging services and social networks.
ramphastidae 6y ago
They would never do that. Eyeballs for ads are all that matter. Their service is based on quantity, not quality.
jug 6y ago
I use Facebook but them leaving EU would be amazing because I only use it to keep in touch with friends and family, and now they'd be forced off it. <3
tomjen3 6y ago
It would be inconvenient for me, but as long as there is something else we can move to (Diaspora), I will survive. I know two people who have married people from the US who have moved here. I imagine they wouldn't be very happy not being able to interact with their friends across the seas nearly as easily. Who would they blame? That is a good question. On the other hand, Twitter would be pretty pointless if I could only interact with EU tweeps. I don't know if they would be hit by this, I assume there is a GDPR exception for this the user publishes?
varispeed 6y ago
It's not possible, because how are they going to block EU nationals from continuing to use the service? People can use VPN, disguise themselves as Americans and so on. There is no way they can wiggle themselves out of it unless they'll close the entire operation, and that is not going to happen as Facebook is a spying front.
atypeoferror 6y ago
When they tried a much smaller version of that in Australia, it went very poorly for them - I doubt they will attempt a similar maneuver anytime soon. https://www.ft.com/content/cac1ff54-b976-4ae4-b810-46c29ab26096 https://www.ft.com/content/cac1ff54-b976-4ae4-b810-46c29ab26...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Sanzig 6y ago
That's a really risky maneuver for Facebook. Yeah, maybe it has the desired result and the regulators back down. Or maybe competitors that have been locked out for over a decade due to the unassailable network advantage of Facebook finally have their chance to shine, and a new European social network competitor to Facebook rises up. The new competitor would be able to architect their service ground-up for GDPR compliance, which is something Facebook hasn't really been able to do since their platform has a lot of architectural inertia behind it.
- lanstin 6y ago
  Nice phrase, architectural inertia. Less judgy and more specific than tech debt.
des1nderlase 6y ago
Why would EU (government) care? It's not like EU citizens would leave EU. Especially given that the government is preaching that this is protecting citizen rights.
trasz 6y ago
Nothing, because the only important asset FB has is its market share. If they left the EU, you'd have a functionally similar alternative very, very quickly.

by jmclnx 6y ago

jlelse 6y ago

I wouldn't find it bad for Facebook to be banned in Europe. This would be a chance for less data-hungry messaging services and social networks.

ramphastidae 6y ago

They would never do that. Eyeballs for ads are all that matter. Their service is based on quantity, not quality.

jug 6y ago

I use Facebook but them leaving EU would be amazing because I only use it to keep in touch with friends and family, and now they'd be forced off it. <3

tomjen3 6y ago

It would be inconvenient for me, but as long as there is something else we can move to (Diaspora), I will survive. I know two people who have married people from the US who have moved here. I imagine they wouldn't be very happy not being able to interact with their friends across the seas nearly as easily. Who would they blame? That is a good question. On the other hand, Twitter would be pretty pointless if I could only interact with EU tweeps. I don't know if they would be hit by this, I assume there is a GDPR exception for this the user publishes?

varispeed 6y ago

It's not possible, because how are they going to block EU nationals from continuing to use the service? People can use VPN, disguise themselves as Americans and so on. There is no way they can wiggle themselves out of it unless they'll close the entire operation, and that is not going to happen as Facebook is a spying front.

atypeoferror 6y ago

When they tried a much smaller version of that in Australia, it went very poorly for them - I doubt they will attempt a similar maneuver anytime soon. https://www.ft.com/content/cac1ff54-b976-4ae4-b810-46c29ab26096 https://www.ft.com/content/cac1ff54-b976-4ae4-b810-46c29ab26...

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

Sanzig 6y ago

That's a really risky maneuver for Facebook. Yeah, maybe it has the desired result and the regulators back down. Or maybe competitors that have been locked out for over a decade due to the unassailable network advantage of Facebook finally have their chance to shine, and a new European social network competitor to Facebook rises up. The new competitor would be able to architect their service ground-up for GDPR compliance, which is something Facebook hasn't really been able to do since their platform has a lot of architectural inertia behind it.

lanstin 6y ago
Nice phrase, architectural inertia. Less judgy and more specific than tech debt.

des1nderlase 6y ago

Why would EU (government) care? It's not like EU citizens would leave EU. Especially given that the government is preaching that this is protecting citizen rights.

trasz 6y ago

Nothing, because the only important asset FB has is its market share. If they left the EU, you'd have a functionally similar alternative very, very quickly.