MARK Zuckerberg is threatening to shut down Facebook and Instagram in Europe due to regulations aimed at hampering app data collection.

CityAM reports that Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, buried the warning in a report for the Securities and Exchange Commission filed last week.

In it, the Californian tech giant bemoans EU rules that will prevent it from digesting Europeans’ data on US servers.

Without the ability to transfer, store and process this data across the Atlantic, Meta said it could be forced to shut down basic services in Europe.

If the company makes the unlikely decision to follow through on the threat, it could see Britons banned from Facebook and Instagram.

Meta said in its report that unless EU data rules are relaxed, the company will “probably” be unable to offer its “most important products and services” including Facebook and Instagram. in the EU.

The key issue for Meta is a problem related to transatlantic data transfers.

Currently, Meta processes its data in the United States and Europe. The company says this is crucial to the operation of its business.

Under new rules, Meta and other tech giants could be forced to process this data on servers based in Europe.

The regulations aim to protect the privacy of Europeans by ensuring that their data is not processed beyond the borders of the continent.

Meta asks that it be allowed to continue to use the transatlantic data transfer framework called Privacy Shield.

This was the legal basis the company used to make data transfers until it was struck down in July 2020 by new laws to protect Europeans’ data.

Meta says he thinks he can make new deals in 2022.

However, he says if new deals cannot be struck he could be forced to withdraw services from Europe.

However, the chances of the company following through on the threat are slim, as Europe is one of its largest and most profitable markets.

The comments most likely come down to the company weighing its weight against regulations that will hamper its data collection, which is its primary revenue generation model.

Speaking to City AM, Meta’s Nick Clegg said: “We urge regulators to take a proportionate and pragmatic approach to minimizing disruption to the thousands of companies that, like Facebook, rely on these mechanisms in good faith. to transfer data in a safe and secure manner.”

It comes after a tough few weeks for the beleaguered tech giant.

It emerged last week that Facebook had lost users for the first time in its 18-year history, suggesting its status as the world’s biggest social media app was under threat.

The platform’s parent company, Meta, delivered a grim mix of a sharper-than-expected profit decline, dwindling user numbers and threats to its advertising business on Wednesday that plunged shares. 22% in after-hours trading.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg blamed the meteoric rise of rival service TikTok on Facebook’s apparent stagnation.

“People have a lot of choices about how they want to spend their time, and apps like TikTok are growing very quickly,” Zuckerberg said in an earnings call yesterday, according to The Washington Post.

Already jittery markets punished pandemic-era darlings, including Netflix, for disappointing results.

Meta got a taste of it after its $10.3 billion quarterly profit and daily user growth fell short of expectations.

Yet Facebook’s iconic platform also reported losing around one million daily users worldwide between the last two quarters of 2021.

That’s a small number on an app with nearly two billion daily users, but a potentially worrying signal of stagnation.

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Boeing has invested $450 million in a flying taxi startup that hopes to ferry passengers across cities by the end of the decade.

Custom smart guns, which can only be fired by verified users, may finally be available to US consumers this year.

And, scientists are embarking on a mission to unravel the mystery behind dozens of gruesome child mummies buried in an underground tomb in Sicily.

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