Facebook dismisses report on planned shutdown of service in Europe

Social media giant, Facebook, on Wednesday dismissed the rumour on planned shutdown of its service in Europe.

Facebook’s head of global policy denied the report that the tech giant could close its service to Europeans if local regulators go ahead to suspend data transfers to the United States following a landmark court ruling in July.

The ruling, according to industry analysts, cemented the schism between US surveillance laws and European Union privacy rights.

Responding to the implications of the court’s ruling, Facebook’s Vice President, Nick Clegg, noted that the social media giant has no intention to shut down its operations in Europe.

READ ALSO: Facebook launches new college student-only social network, Facebook Campus

He said: “We of course won’t [shut down in Europe] — and the reason we won’t of course is precisely because we want to continue to serve customer and small and medium sized businesses in Europe.”

However, he warned of consequences on scores of digital businesses if a way is not found by lawmakers on both sides of the pond to resolve the legal uncertainty around the US data transfers.

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