The last few weeks are not the best for Meta company. The latest report on the firm shows a significant decrease in activity on the site. For the first time in almost 18 years, the company saw a decline in number of daily active users on Facebook. The reduction in the number of users also impacted a decline in Meta's share price, and that's not all. It is possible that Meta will be forced to close Facebook and Instagram in Europe.
This state of affairs is related to legal changes in the European Union. In July 2020, the European Union repealed the previously applicable Privacy Shield treaty, which allowed for the free flow of data between servers in the United States and in Europe, which facilitated the operation of, among others, large companies with headquarters in the United States. Along with changes companies, in accordance with applicable law, need to store user data on European servers. This will be a big problem for Meta, which has so far stored and processed user data using not only European servers, but also servers located in the United States. Possible changes in the functioning of Facebook will make it much more difficult, among others, to personalize ads for all users, hence there are reports on the Internet that Meta may even resign from providing customers in the European Union with access to some of its services. If Meta will not comply with the European Union regulations, residents of EU countries may lose access to services such as Facebook or Instagram.