Meta Platforms Inc. has threatened to pull Facebook and Instagram from Europe if it is unable to keep transferring user data back to the U.S.

European regulators are currently re-working regulation on how European data is transferred across the Atlantic, after the previous Privacy Shield agreement with the U.S. was ruled invalid by the European Court of Justice in July 2020.

In its annual report published Thursday, Meta said that if it couldn’t rely on new or existing agreements — such as so-called standard contractual clauses — to shift data, then it would “likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe.”

While it is unlikely that Meta would withdraw its flagship products from one of its most lucrative markets, its response highlights the increasing tension between the social media company and lawmakers over the ownership of user data.

The European Commission said negotiations with Washington have intensified, but they “take time given also the complexity of the issues discussed and the need to strike a balance between privacy and national security,” a Commission spokesperson wrote in a statement to Bloomberg on Monday.

“Only an arrangement that is fully compliant with the requirements set by the EU court can deliver the stability and legal certainty stakeholders expect on both sides of the Atlantic,” the spokesperson added.

In August 2020, the Irish protection agency ruled that a company’s use of standard contractual clauses to process European data violated the GDPR and should be suspended. A final decision should come in the first half of this year.

Data protection authorities are increasingly scrutinizing these kinds of supplementary security measures that have allowed companies to send data back and forth in the absence of a new agreement, according to Patrick Van Eecke, a partner and head of cyber and data at law firm Cooley LLP.

“I am not surprised companies outside of Europe are reconsidering whether or not it makes sense to continue offering services to the European market as there are not many options left any longer,” said Van Eecke.

It is not the first time Facebook has threatened to ban its services. In 2020 it said it plans to block people and publishers in Australia from sharing news, in an attempt to push back against a proposed law forcing the company to pay media firms for their articles.

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG

Bitcoin rose for a fifth consecutive day, the longest winning streak since September, as investors begin to re-embrace risk assets across global markets.

The largest cryptocurrency by market value gained as much as 5.8% to $44,110. XRP jumped as much as 17% to around 78 cents as so-called alt coins rallied more. Shiba Inu led memecoins higher, surging around 50% to around 0.000034 cents, according to CoinMarketCap.

Global markets have been whipsawed in recent weeks as investors contemplate the prospects of rapid monetary tightening. After reaching a record high of almost $69,000 in early November, Bitcoin lost as much as 50% of its value in what has been called a “crypto winter.”

The break above $43,000 could cause the current up move to target toward the $45,000 level, according to Nathan Batchelor, lead Bitcoin analyst for SIMETRI Research.

“People are starting to feel a little more comfortable dipping their toes back into some of these riskier asset classes after the pullback,” Lindsey Bell, chief markets and money strategist at Ally Financial Inc., said. However, Bell says the market in general isn’t necessarily out of the water yet with lingering uncertainty on multiple fronts, including the speed at which the Federal Reserve and central banks could act to quell rising inflation.

A strengthening relationship between Bitcoin and the stock indices has emerged in recent months, particularly with the technology heavy Nasdaq 100 index. The correlation between the Nasdaq and Bitcoin currently stands at 0.43.

Gritt Trakulhoon, an investment analyst at Titan Global Capital Management USA Inc., said the dramatic rise in Shiba Inu could be attributed to development progress on a blockchain add-on, known as a layer-2 network, specifically designed for the token called Shibarium. The memecoin is based on the Ethereum blockchain.

“It doesn’t take a lot of effort to push them higher or lower,” Bell said. “Because Bitcoin is such a large market cap and more liquid than some of these other ones, in a way — it’s not necessarily stable — but it’s more stable than some of the other ones.”

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG

he Yoruba Nation agitators have reacted to reports that the government of the Republic of Benin has extended the incarceration of activist, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho for six months.
The Yoruba Nation supporters in a statement shared by Igboho’s media aide, Olayomi Koiki, warned Patrice Talon, the President of Benin Republic to reverse the decision and immediately release Igboho.

They threatened that should the government fail to release Igboho, the Yoruba “will unleash chaos on all the Beninoise living in Nigeria.”
The statement sent to SaharaReporters on Monday reads, “To the government and people of the Republic of Benin, we kindly ask you to release our man, Sunday Igboho Akoni Oodua now from Cotonou Prison (Maison d’Arrêts).
“He has been held for almost eight months now since his arrest at Cardinal Airport, Bernandin Gantin de Cadjehoun, without committing any criminal offence against the people and the government of the Republic of Benin.
“We know that there are efforts by state actors to hold him until after the general elections in Nigeria next year. From reliable information, we know that His Excellency Louis G. Vlavonou (President of the National Assembly of Benin), Professor Joseph Fifame Djogbenou (President of the Constitutional Court), have done their best to secure the release of Oloye Igboho since last year December 28 but all their pleas to President Talon Patrice have not yielded positive results and he has pledged not to release Sunday Igboho even though Igboho has not committed any crime.
“President Patrice Guillaume Talon acted on the instruction of Professor Severim Quenum Minister of Justice of the Republic of Benin, Mr Olivier Bocco Patrice Talon, Right Arm Male, Mr Salimane Karimou, Beninese Minister of Nursery and Primary Education, who told the President Talon that if Oloye Sunday Igboho is released, he would merge with the entire Yoruba-speaking Beninese community in his Oodua Nation programme.
“Because of this, President Talon Patrice has already raised N2billion for this job with a promise from Muhammadu Buhari through Yusuf Buratai, the Ambassador of Nigeria, Republic of Benin, promising President Talon and some of his senior cabinet members that they will each have an area in Abuja and Banana Island in Lagos Nigeria.
“President Patrice Talon Construction Company in Nigeria (ITB) will also be exempted from tax, his wife, Mrs Claudine Talon, will also benefit from the oil block in South-South Nigeria. With this, Talon has proposed that the Vodafone GSM operation should also have a soft landing to operate in Nigeria.
“They had their first meeting together in the premises of Olivier Bocco, the second in Downtown Irede, in Sakete, at the home of Salimane Karimou. Well, we are calling you now, fear the Almighty Lord and release him now, otherwise the whole Yoruba will unleash chaos on all Beninese living in the country called Nigeria.”
NewsDay had earlier reported the announcement by the government of the Republic of Benin that Igboho’s incarceration had been extended by six months.
Igboho has been detained in the Benin Republic since he was arrested at the Cotonou airport by security forces in the West African nation he was trying to fly to Germany in July 2021.
Igboho fled Nigeria after his house was raided by operatives of the Department of State Services.