4 ms·

As much as people would like to see that, Facebook-Meta will not withdraw from the EU anyway. It's an empty threat. The EU has never been particularly impressed

As much as people would like to see that, Facebook-Meta will not withdraw from the EU anyway. It's an empty threat. The EU has never been particularly impressed with such bluffing in the past.

detaro 5y ago
It's not even a threat really. Everyone is quoting an SEC filing by Facebook where it lays that out as a worst-case scenario - which is what companies do so they don't get sued by stockholders trying to get them to pay up because they "hid information" from them if there is any further trouble with EU access (which there likely will be). Facebook just has officially told everybody the obvious fact of "we have issues with EU regulations, this could get bad", as they are supposed to do as a public company.
- jjulius 5y ago
  In the same vein, I'd say that this is Germany and France doing the same thing. "Oh, you think this could get bad? lol don't care."
- Grollicus 5y ago
  I think the interesting thing is that Facebook seems to finally begin to take SchremsII seriously. It is a sword of Damocles hanging over all US companies doing business in the EU and it is something that needs to be solved by the US side, as European courts have shot all attempts by the EU down. I hope this is a beginning for the US to finally tackle their due process deficiency.
julianlam 5y ago
It makes me smile that the EU, which so many Brexiteers wrote off as a bloated bureaucracy, is currently going toe to toe with Facebook all while avoiding regulatory capture.
- davedx 5y ago
  I mean it can be both right? "The EU" is actually a collection of various treaties and organizations, some of which function better than others, and it's certainly not small by any measure. As a citizen I am in general still supportive of the EU, in fights like this for sure, but some of the criticisms that came out of Brexit were fair.
- pawelmurias 5y ago
  It's a fully corrupt bloated bureaucracy, very few people love to click on stupid cookie popups. In a lot of countries the scumbags the people who elect the EU asshats don't even follow what the people they elected vote on.
- arlcode 5y ago
  Well it's their own doing. Facebook doesn't give European politicians and regulators any arguments that speak for them: - (Basically) No jobs in Europe - (Basically) No taxes in Europe - Easily replaceable (aka no major economic consequences when they disappear) - Considered as dividing the population and fueling conflict for profit - In a position to block meaningful local competition - Facebook flipped them off in the past when they could get away with it - Facebook delivers the data of EU citizens directly to foreign secret services. Even if you don't care about privacy, this removes a potential bargaining chip for future transatlantic contracts.
alfonsodev 5y ago
I'm curious how this will unfold, something similar happened with Google News in Spain[1], and Deliveroo [2], of course we are talking about the whole EU and neither of examples had as many customers as Facebook. - [1] https://support.google.com/news/publisher-center/answer/9609687?hl=en https://support.google.com/news/publisher-center/answer/9609... - [2] https://deliveroo.es/en/ https://deliveroo.es/en/

As much as people would like to see that, Facebook-Meta will not withdraw from the EU anyway. It's an empty threat. The EU has never been particularly impressed with such bluffing in the past.

detaro 5y ago

It's not even a threat really. Everyone is quoting an SEC filing by Facebook where it lays that out as a worst-case scenario - which is what companies do so they don't get sued by stockholders trying to get them to pay up because they "hid information" from them if there is any further trouble with EU access (which there likely will be). Facebook just has officially told everybody the obvious fact of "we have issues with EU regulations, this could get bad", as they are supposed to do as a public company.

jjulius 5y ago
In the same vein, I'd say that this is Germany and France doing the same thing. "Oh, you think this could get bad? lol don't care."
Grollicus 5y ago
I think the interesting thing is that Facebook seems to finally begin to take SchremsII seriously. It is a sword of Damocles hanging over all US companies doing business in the EU and it is something that needs to be solved by the US side, as European courts have shot all attempts by the EU down. I hope this is a beginning for the US to finally tackle their due process deficiency.

julianlam 5y ago

It makes me smile that the EU, which so many Brexiteers wrote off as a bloated bureaucracy, is currently going toe to toe with Facebook all while avoiding regulatory capture.

davedx 5y ago
I mean it can be both right? "The EU" is actually a collection of various treaties and organizations, some of which function better than others, and it's certainly not small by any measure. As a citizen I am in general still supportive of the EU, in fights like this for sure, but some of the criticisms that came out of Brexit were fair.
pawelmurias 5y ago
It's a fully corrupt bloated bureaucracy, very few people love to click on stupid cookie popups. In a lot of countries the scumbags the people who elect the EU asshats don't even follow what the people they elected vote on.
arlcode 5y ago
Well it's their own doing. Facebook doesn't give European politicians and regulators any arguments that speak for them: - (Basically) No jobs in Europe - (Basically) No taxes in Europe - Easily replaceable (aka no major economic consequences when they disappear) - Considered as dividing the population and fueling conflict for profit - In a position to block meaningful local competition - Facebook flipped them off in the past when they could get away with it - Facebook delivers the data of EU citizens directly to foreign secret services. Even if you don't care about privacy, this removes a potential bargaining chip for future transatlantic contracts.

alfonsodev 5y ago

I'm curious how this will unfold, something similar happened with Google News in Spain[1], and Deliveroo [2], of course we are talking about the whole EU and neither of examples had as many customers as Facebook. - [1] https://support.google.com/news/publisher-center/answer/9609687?hl=en https://support.google.com/news/publisher-center/answer/9609... - [2] https://deliveroo.es/en/ https://deliveroo.es/en/