4 ms·

Will Europe Force a Facebook Blackout?

32 points by donohoe 4y ago

jks 4y ago
Betteridge's Law of Headlines continues to hold: So, how likely is it that Meta will actually pull its services from Europe? In reality, the chances are probably pretty slim. Meta has said it has “no desire” to leave the continent, going as far as publishing a blog post titled “Meta Is Absolutely Not Threatening to Leave Europe.” Europe’s 30-plus countries are a large market for Meta, and stopping services, even temporarily, could be costly. (A close comparison is when the company briefly banned news posts in Australia in early 2021, following a row with publishers.) While Meta may not leave Europe, it may have to make changes to how it stores and transfers data once the final decision from the Irish regulator is published, although there is no set timeline. It may also face a fine.
- hestefisk 4y ago
  Exactly my thought. For wired, the headline is really bad click bait.
- jsmith45 4y ago
  The bigger concern is that some European decisions here are bordering on saying that American companies cannot handle European's data at all, since even if they silo the data to remain only in Europe, if the US Government insists on access the data, the American company pretty much has to give it to them.
  - toomuchtodo 4y ago
    This sounds like a net positive considering the data governance, security, and privacy issues around data handling by US firms.
drcongo 4y ago
Facebook handing over a teen's messaging history to law enforcement so they could prosecute her for seeking an abortion is more likely to end Facebook.
- wand3r 4y ago
  While I personally am appalled by this, I would guess that there will be virtually no repercussions
  - themoonisachees 4y ago
    My guess is that making obeying a legal (I don't agree that it should have been, but it was) subpoena by a us judge punishable in the EU is setting incredibly bad precedent.
    - drcongo 4y ago
      Nobody suggested anything of the sort. I'm just hopeful that enough people now see Facebook (and everything Meta) for the spyware that it is, that they'll delete it.
- gaius_baltar 4y ago
  It should end, but people are to use to just eat every piece of crap that Meta drop on them. Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp... neither of these services are the best of their class (some aren't even minimally usable when you know the alternatives), but social inertia and peer pressure is a big issue and non-technical people just give up.
  - tri2820 4y ago
    What are the alternatives that you recommend?
    - fsflover 4y ago
      Telegram/Matrix, PixelFed, Mastodon.
  - gaius_baltar 4y ago
    > but people are to use to just eat * but people are too used to just eat Sorry, I typed this quicker than I should ...
M2Ys4U 4y ago
One can hope.
sam_goody 4y ago
A guy once asked to be released from jury duty so as not to miss work. The Judge warned "don't give me the story that your workplace cannot survive without you for a week." He replied, "Oh, they can survive fine without me. I just don't want them to find that out" > Meta Is Absolutely Not Threatening to Leave Europe Europe will survive fine without FB, and FB will promise anything to keep them from finding that out. And then they will break every promise they can get away with breaking.
- _int3_ 4y ago
  If FB goes out of EU, people will just move to another social network on the list. ( There are many social networks out there )
  - GekkePrutser 4y ago
    Personally, when I left Facebook I never looked back. My social media phase is over. All contact with friends is now via IM apps like Whatsapp and Telegram. Yes I know the former is owned by Facebook but it's not Social Media really. Most of my friends aren't on any social media anymore with the exception of LinkedIn which is kinda necessary for work. But I don't really use it like social media. I never post or read on it, just use it to look and apply for jobs. Before I left Facebook I thought I still needed social media and I backed OpenBook. But that was a mistake. They changed their name twice to ever dumber and forgettable names and have since shut down their service for over a year because they're working on something new, which they refuse to say anything about.. I consider it a scam now. The fediverse is more interesting but really I realized I don't need it anymore.
    - _int3_ 4y ago
      I don't think people care for definition of "social network" or "social media" . In case of "no more FB" they will just migrate to another application that allows them to communicate with each other, share photos, videos, etc.. Any app that can handle half billion of new users without crashing too much will do.
woopwoop24 4y ago
time to actually stop the US government to access data in europe at all. It always has been and always will be a slap in the face to the rest of us, that it is accepted and allowed at all. fuck the NSA

32 points by donohoe 4y ago

jks 4y ago

Betteridge's Law of Headlines continues to hold: So, how likely is it that Meta will actually pull its services from Europe? In reality, the chances are probably pretty slim. Meta has said it has “no desire” to leave the continent, going as far as publishing a blog post titled “Meta Is Absolutely Not Threatening to Leave Europe.” Europe’s 30-plus countries are a large market for Meta, and stopping services, even temporarily, could be costly. (A close comparison is when the company briefly banned news posts in Australia in early 2021, following a row with publishers.) While Meta may not leave Europe, it may have to make changes to how it stores and transfers data once the final decision from the Irish regulator is published, although there is no set timeline. It may also face a fine.

hestefisk 4y ago
Exactly my thought. For wired, the headline is really bad click bait.
jsmith45 4y ago
The bigger concern is that some European decisions here are bordering on saying that American companies cannot handle European's data at all, since even if they silo the data to remain only in Europe, if the US Government insists on access the data, the American company pretty much has to give it to them.
- toomuchtodo 4y ago
  This sounds like a net positive considering the data governance, security, and privacy issues around data handling by US firms.

drcongo 4y ago

Facebook handing over a teen's messaging history to law enforcement so they could prosecute her for seeking an abortion is more likely to end Facebook.

wand3r 4y ago
While I personally am appalled by this, I would guess that there will be virtually no repercussions
- themoonisachees 4y ago
  My guess is that making obeying a legal (I don't agree that it should have been, but it was) subpoena by a us judge punishable in the EU is setting incredibly bad precedent.
  - drcongo 4y ago
    Nobody suggested anything of the sort. I'm just hopeful that enough people now see Facebook (and everything Meta) for the spyware that it is, that they'll delete it.
gaius_baltar 4y ago
It should end, but people are to use to just eat every piece of crap that Meta drop on them. Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp... neither of these services are the best of their class (some aren't even minimally usable when you know the alternatives), but social inertia and peer pressure is a big issue and non-technical people just give up.
- tri2820 4y ago
  What are the alternatives that you recommend?
  - fsflover 4y ago
    Telegram/Matrix, PixelFed, Mastodon.
- gaius_baltar 4y ago
  > but people are to use to just eat * but people are too used to just eat Sorry, I typed this quicker than I should ...

M2Ys4U 4y ago

One can hope.

sam_goody 4y ago

A guy once asked to be released from jury duty so as not to miss work. The Judge warned "don't give me the story that your workplace cannot survive without you for a week." He replied, "Oh, they can survive fine without me. I just don't want them to find that out" > Meta Is Absolutely Not Threatening to Leave Europe Europe will survive fine without FB, and FB will promise anything to keep them from finding that out. And then they will break every promise they can get away with breaking.

_int3_ 4y ago
If FB goes out of EU, people will just move to another social network on the list. ( There are many social networks out there )
- GekkePrutser 4y ago
  Personally, when I left Facebook I never looked back. My social media phase is over. All contact with friends is now via IM apps like Whatsapp and Telegram. Yes I know the former is owned by Facebook but it's not Social Media really. Most of my friends aren't on any social media anymore with the exception of LinkedIn which is kinda necessary for work. But I don't really use it like social media. I never post or read on it, just use it to look and apply for jobs. Before I left Facebook I thought I still needed social media and I backed OpenBook. But that was a mistake. They changed their name twice to ever dumber and forgettable names and have since shut down their service for over a year because they're working on something new, which they refuse to say anything about.. I consider it a scam now. The fediverse is more interesting but really I realized I don't need it anymore.
  - _int3_ 4y ago
    I don't think people care for definition of "social network" or "social media" . In case of "no more FB" they will just migrate to another application that allows them to communicate with each other, share photos, videos, etc.. Any app that can handle half billion of new users without crashing too much will do.

woopwoop24 4y ago

time to actually stop the US government to access data in europe at all. It always has been and always will be a slap in the face to the rest of us, that it is accepted and allowed at all. fuck the NSA