Morning traffic outside Meta headquarters in Mountain View, California, USA, on November 9, 2022.
Peter DaSilva | Reuters
The Dutch government said on Friday it may be forced to stop using Facebook after the Dutch privacy watchdog issued a warning from the company. YuanPrivacy Risks of Owning a Social Media Platform.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) issued a statement advising the Dutch Interior Ministry not to rely on Facebook pages to communicate with citizens if it does not know how Facebook uses the personal data of people who visit government pages.
The Home Office had previously asked the DPA to provide advice on whether the government could use Facebook pages in a compliant manner.
Dutch Digitalization Minister Alexandra van Huffelen said in a statement that the government wanted Meta to “clearly explain how they will address our concerns as soon as possible and at the latest before the summer recess.”
“Otherwise, as recommended by the DPA, we will be forced to cease our activities on the Facebook page,” she added.
“People who visit government pages trust that their personal and sensitive information is in safe hands,” Aleid Wolfsen, chairman of the Dutch DPA, said in a statement.
“The fact that this may also involve information about children and young people makes this even more important,” Wolfson said in a statement. “They are vulnerable online and require additional protection.” Translated into English via Google Translate.
“We fundamentally disagree with the assessment supporting this recommendation, which is factually incorrect and demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how our products work,” a Meta spokesperson told CNBC.
A Meta spokesperson added: “We review all Meta products to ensure they comply with the laws in the areas where we provide services and will continue to work with governments to ensure they can use social media to communicate with people.”
Matthew Holman, a technology, privacy and artificial intelligence partner at law firm Cripps, told CNBC via email that the DPA’s recommendations are further evidence of “the growing distrust between European regulators and Meta.”
Holman said that Dutch regulators may be concerned that user data “is shared with government departments on the Meta platform, but may still be subject to security issues, monitoring or access by U.S. federal agencies.”
—CNBC’s April Roach contributed to this report
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