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"When contacted by City A.M. today, John Nolan, Meta’s London-based tech media and advertising communications leader, did not deny or play down the reports. Ins

"When contacted by City A.M. today, John Nolan, Meta’s London-based tech media and advertising communications leader, did not deny or play down the reports. Instead, he shared a statement from Nick Clegg, Meta’s VP of Global Affairs and Communications. Clegg warned that “a lack of safe, secure and legal international data transfers would damage the economy and hamper the growth of data-driven businesses in the EU, just as we seek a recovery from Covid-19.” “The impact would be felt by businesses large and small, across multiple sectors,” he continued." Lol, the underhanded passive aggressive tone. "Let us use your data, or else...". I wish they'd actually have the balls to do it instead of just bluffing, because then we'd finally have a reason to build our own social networks.

HellDunkel 5y ago
If they pulled the plug on Europe that would be truely amazing.
jug 5y ago
Yes, this made me realize I'd like to have at least some decent EU option that lets me have a feed, friends, and messaging in groups. I'd like it to be centralized for ease of user adoption. Just something simple for friends and family to connect that was under EU laws. It doesn't feel right to have my data cross legislative boundaries like this. At least the EU as a whole is becoming reasonably coherent in terms of privacy laws. This regardless of what happens with Facebook. I'm personally pretty sure nothing will come of it especially now that their stock is tanking and 25% down. Compounding this loss of investor trust with also leaving EU due to regulatory pressure will start to seriously disrupt their business and further erode trust in that their business model is healthy enough to stay relevant for ad sales in the future.
jollybean 5y ago
No, they're calling the bluff on the hypocrisy of the laws to the extent they are singling out Facebook. If EU pursued everyone to the same extent, it would be seriously damaging. They're going to have to figure something else out, especially given the there's nothing inherently wrong with hosting and processing data offshore. If 'feels' like things could be improved if data were processed locally but the real consumer damage is not hugely material. I wonder if there is just a better way to deal with the issue, for example, by requiring that Facebook adhere to some minimum set of rules and that's that.
- Barrin92 5y ago
  No, it doesn't single out Facebook at all. It applies to every company equally. What singles Facebook out is their practices. Equal treatment under the law means treating those equally who act equally, in this case it'd just be doing its job. Microsoft for example, already voluntarily stores data in Europe (https://blogs.microsoft.com/eupolicy/2021/05/06/eu-data-boundary/ https://blogs.microsoft.com/eupolicy/2021/05/06/eu-data-boun...) And of course the user damage is material, because American data protection laws are weaker than European ones. That's why they're shoving the data across the pond in the first place. >by requiring that Facebook adhere to some minimum set of rules and that's that. that literally is what the data protection legislation is about
  - jollybean 5y ago
    " It applies to every company equally. " It doesn't though. If laws are not prosecuted consistently, then they are not 'applied' consistently. There's a lot of populist and political outrage (and jealousy) in the EU that I think has disproportionately singled out FB and it lacks hugely material legitimacy on the data protection front. If FB magically had all EU citizens data hosted in the EU ... it wouldn't make a shred of a difference. Nobody would notice. It would be largely inconsequential. For corporate and government data, i.e. Google Docs, I think it starts to make much more of a difference. And if the EU would sort out their own IP laws (i.e. Ireland) they would be able to tax more efficiently. 'The Problem' is not so much FB or FAANGS, it's that Europe has been absent from the game and has zero winners in important and developing areas. If Google were based in Europe I think attitudes would be different and it would have little to do with 'data sovereignty'. I support the notion of regionally hosted data, but it's a bit of a distraction.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - sgift 5y ago
      > It doesn't though. If laws are not prosecuted consistently, then they are not 'applied' consistently. Which company that breaks GDPR on the same scale as Facebook is not prosecuted though? If you make such an accusation please provide at least an example. If you mean that the EU is using more resources to hold Facebook accountable than some two person shop: Yes. In the face of limited personal and time, you'll have to choose which to pursue first. And the EU has wisely decided that going after the big companies first gives the most bang for the buck.

HellDunkel 5y ago

If they pulled the plug on Europe that would be truely amazing.

jug 5y ago

Yes, this made me realize I'd like to have at least some decent EU option that lets me have a feed, friends, and messaging in groups. I'd like it to be centralized for ease of user adoption. Just something simple for friends and family to connect that was under EU laws. It doesn't feel right to have my data cross legislative boundaries like this. At least the EU as a whole is becoming reasonably coherent in terms of privacy laws. This regardless of what happens with Facebook. I'm personally pretty sure nothing will come of it especially now that their stock is tanking and 25% down. Compounding this loss of investor trust with also leaving EU due to regulatory pressure will start to seriously disrupt their business and further erode trust in that their business model is healthy enough to stay relevant for ad sales in the future.

jollybean 5y ago

No, they're calling the bluff on the hypocrisy of the laws to the extent they are singling out Facebook. If EU pursued everyone to the same extent, it would be seriously damaging. They're going to have to figure something else out, especially given the there's nothing inherently wrong with hosting and processing data offshore. If 'feels' like things could be improved if data were processed locally but the real consumer damage is not hugely material. I wonder if there is just a better way to deal with the issue, for example, by requiring that Facebook adhere to some minimum set of rules and that's that.

Barrin92 5y ago
No, it doesn't single out Facebook at all. It applies to every company equally. What singles Facebook out is their practices. Equal treatment under the law means treating those equally who act equally, in this case it'd just be doing its job. Microsoft for example, already voluntarily stores data in Europe (https://blogs.microsoft.com/eupolicy/2021/05/06/eu-data-boundary/ https://blogs.microsoft.com/eupolicy/2021/05/06/eu-data-boun...) And of course the user damage is material, because American data protection laws are weaker than European ones. That's why they're shoving the data across the pond in the first place. >by requiring that Facebook adhere to some minimum set of rules and that's that. that literally is what the data protection legislation is about
- jollybean 5y ago
  " It applies to every company equally. " It doesn't though. If laws are not prosecuted consistently, then they are not 'applied' consistently. There's a lot of populist and political outrage (and jealousy) in the EU that I think has disproportionately singled out FB and it lacks hugely material legitimacy on the data protection front. If FB magically had all EU citizens data hosted in the EU ... it wouldn't make a shred of a difference. Nobody would notice. It would be largely inconsequential. For corporate and government data, i.e. Google Docs, I think it starts to make much more of a difference. And if the EU would sort out their own IP laws (i.e. Ireland) they would be able to tax more efficiently. 'The Problem' is not so much FB or FAANGS, it's that Europe has been absent from the game and has zero winners in important and developing areas. If Google were based in Europe I think attitudes would be different and it would have little to do with 'data sovereignty'. I support the notion of regionally hosted data, but it's a bit of a distraction.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - sgift 5y ago
    > It doesn't though. If laws are not prosecuted consistently, then they are not 'applied' consistently. Which company that breaks GDPR on the same scale as Facebook is not prosecuted though? If you make such an accusation please provide at least an example. If you mean that the EU is using more resources to hold Facebook accountable than some two person shop: Yes. In the face of limited personal and time, you'll have to choose which to pursue first. And the EU has wisely decided that going after the big companies first gives the most bang for the buck.