Background information
Meta under pressure – Part 4: the Apple Menace
by Samuel Buchmann
Meta’s ultimatum: what’s all this about «Facebook and Instagram leaving the EU»?
9.2.2022
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Meta is pressuring the EU. If data protection laws tighten any further, the group would no longer be able to maintain operations in Europe. Yet in the end, it’s all just sabre rattling.
Meta has pulled back from its original statement. In a press release, the company formerly known as Facebook let the public know that no withdrawal is planned.
Let’s analyse the perfect PR stunt.
What is Meta threatening?
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, doesn’t issue such threats lightly. The threat can be understood as such, or as a statement of fact. This is exactly what Meta wanted to achieve. It’s classic sabre rattling. Here’s Meta’s Annual Report for 2021:
This might sound complex, but it’s not. Essentially, it says that withdrawal from Europe is a last resort. But before Meta falls back on this drastic step, all of the following statements must be true:
Even if all three of these things are true, a withdrawal still isn’t definite. Meta could process data in Europe. Therefore, the threats do just appear to be sabre rattling: Meta doesn’t want to leave Europe.
Why does Meta want to stay in Europe?
If Meta withdraws from Europe, the Group will lose 24.68 per cent of its total revenues.
Facebook’s business model is based on, among other things:
- Selling ads.
- Recording and reselling user data.
- Microtransactions on the platform.
Now the user data part has fallen away to a remarkable degree, costing the company $10 billion. Besides Apple, Meta’s EU gamble could also throw a spanner in the works.
Privacy Shield will be replaced by another agreement. However, none has emerged yet. Facebook now fears that such an agreement will more tightly regulate or restrict the Meta Corporation’s data sharing.
What can Meta do?
In the end, Meta is left to question whether or not it’s still worth operating in Europe. Or whether it can maintain the operation in its current form. If this isn’t the case – an extremely unlikely scenario – Meta could withdraw from the European market altogether, or offer a solution similar to TikTok.
Aside from lobbying and a highly theoretical and unlikely divorce, there’s public relations, of course. Even if Meta halfheartedly threatens to pull out of Europe, it makes headlines. «If such and such factors don’t apply, then that’s something we might consider» turns into a scandalous news story.
Meta knows this.
A reassuring press release a few days later is unlikely to be noticed. Even if the media play down the story, such scandalous news will remain in readers’ minds.
The end of a PR stunt and a new campaign
Meta has halted their sabre rattling. At least for now. Naturally, the group’s job isn’t over yet. This is just the beginning. After the fall of Privacy Shield, a new agreement is due. Until every last detail has been signed off, Meta will fight to make it as Meta-friendly as possible.
A look at how they communicate shows what their strategy is:
So far, so good. Yet, Meta just can’t resist. The corporation publishes a new docile threat. This time Meta isn’t fooling anyone.
Well played, Meta, well played…
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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