Irish regulator could halt Facebook, Instagram EU-US data flows in May

FILE PHOTO: Printed Facebook logos are seen in this illustration taken February 15, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo

DUBLIN (Reuters) - EU-U.S. data transfers by Meta owned Facebook and Instagram could be halted as soon as May but the move would not immediately hit other big tech companies, Ireland's data privacy regulator said in an interview.

Europe's highest court ruled in 2020 that an EU-U.S. data transfer pact was invalid due to concerns that U.S. government surveillance may not respect the privacy rights of EU citizens.