Chaos is expected to be caused in the coming days in Europe as Facebook and Instagram are very likely to disappear from the Old Continent.
Ireland will play the most decisive role in evolution of social media and it is up to her if she wants to cause a European black out.
The Irish Data Protection Commission, according to Politico, decided to stop sending data to the US.
The negotiation thriller began in 2020 when the European Court of Justice struck down an EU-US data transfer agreement. Privacy Shield, as it is called, was not accepted because of US surveillance practices and the doubts that had been expressed. The temporary framework of cooperation that had been agreed must also stop after the final decision of the Commission.
Meta has repeatedly warned that such a decision would shut down many of its services in Europe, including Facebook and Instagram.
"If a new transatlantic data transfer framework is not adopted and we are unable to continue to rely on SCC or rely on other alternative means of data transfer from Europe to the United States, we will likely be unable to offer some of the most important products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe," said representatives of the giant.
The EU and US are in the midst of negotiating a new data transfer text that would allow companies such as Meta to continue sending data regardless of the Irish decision.
Brussels and Washington in March agreed to a preliminary deal at the political level, but negotiations on the "fine print" have stalled and a final deal is unlikely to be reached before the end of the year.
A spokesman for Ireland's DPC confirmed that the draft decision had been sent to other European privacy regulators, who now have a month to comment, but would not discuss details of the decision.