Facebook has warned that it may pull out of Europe because of a possible ban on sharing data with the US.

The European Court of Justice in July ruled that there were insufficient safeguards against snooping by US intelligence agencies.

In a court filing in Dublin, Facebook’s associate general counsel wrote that enforcing the ban would leave the company unable to operate.

“In the event that Facebook were subject to a complete suspension of the transfer of users’ data to the US,” Yvonne Cunnane argued, “it is not clear … how, in those circumstances, it could continue to provide the Facebook and Instagram services in the EU.”

The Guardian reported that Facebook has denied the filing was a threat, arguing in a statement that it was a simple reflection of reality. “Facebook is not threatening to withdraw from Europe,” a spokesperson said.

“Legal documents filed with the Irish high court set out the simple reality that Facebook, and many other businesses, organisations and services, rely on data transfers between the EU and the US in order to operate their services. A lack of safe, secure and legal international data transfers would damage the economy and hamper the growth of data-driven businesses in the EU, just as we seek recovery from COVID-19.” 

Facebook and the EU have been battling in court over privacy issues for the best part of a decade, with lawyers on the continent arguing that US surveillance programs that hoover up user data are inconsistent with EU privacy rules.