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Back in July, the Irish data protection commission proposed a law banning tech conglomerates like Facebook from transferring users' personal data from European services to the US. At that time, the European Union's court of justice found that there was almost no solution to protect the privacy rights of European citizens from US surveillance agencies. Recently, Facebook has warned that if the European Union passes this legislation, they will exit the market with around 500 million residents.In documents submitted to the Dublin court, Facebook's chief counsel, Yvonne Cunnane, wrote that imposing a ban on data transfers to the US would make it impossible for them to operate in the European market: “If Facebook is forced to halt all data transfers to the US, we have not yet found a clear solution to continue providing Facebook and Instagram services within the scope of Europe.”The largest social network on the planet denies this document as a threat, stating that it merely describes the ongoing reality.This is by no means a new move from the European Union; rather, it's the latest development in a legal battle spanning nearly a decade. In 2011, Max Schrems, an Austrian lawyer, began filing complaints to the Irish data protection commission, the legal entity overseeing Facebook's operations in the European market, about the operations of the world's largest social media platform. Two years later, Schrems' efforts gained attention when The Guardian revealed the NSA's Prism program, allowing the agency to directly tap into the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple, and many other US tech companies. Eventually, this issue was addressed by the European Court of Justice.In 2015, the court issued a ruling, invalidating the 'Safe Harbour' agreement between Europe and the US, which allowed US companies to transfer European user data to storage on servers located in the US due to the NSA's Prism program. Immediately after, the EU attempted to find a solution for a different agreement with the US but was unsuccessful, as the court's response indicated that the US is entirely unrestricted in its surveillance, leaving EU citizens exposed.In September, the Irish Data Protection Commission commenced efforts to pass a draft law prohibiting tech corporations from transferring European citizens' personal data to the United States.If Facebook were to do this, meaning leaving Europe with no presence whatsoever, it would undoubtedly present a golden opportunity for any other social media platform looking to compete. The scale of the continental European market is still substantial, even if its market share may be slightly smaller than that of the US or China.According to The Guardian
