The Facebook and Instagram logos displayed on a smartphone with the Meta Platforms logo pictured in the background.
Meta has said it is considering shutting down Facebook and Instagram in Europe if it can't keep transferring user data back to the U.S.
The social media giant issued the warning in its annual report last Thursday.
Regulators in Europe are currently drawing up new legislation that will dictate how EU citizens' user data gets transferred across the Atlantic.
Facebook said: "If a new transatlantic data transfer framework is not adopted and we are unable to continue to rely on SCCs (standard contractual clauses) or rely upon other alternative means of data transfers from Europe to the United States, we will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe."
The company added this "would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations."
"Meta cannot just blackmail the EU into giving up its data protection standards," European lawmaker Axel Voss said via Twitter, adding that "leaving the EU would be their loss." Voss has previously written some of the EU's data protection legislation.