The Dutch government said on Friday that they might have to stop using Facebook because the Netherlands’ privacy regulator warned them about the privacy risks of the social media platform owned by Meta.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) advised the Dutch Interior Ministry not to use Facebook pages to talk to citizens unless they know for sure how Facebook uses the personal data of people who visit government pages.
Before this, the Interior Ministry had asked the DPA if the government could use Facebook pages properly.
The government wants Meta to explain their plans “as soon as possible, but definitely before the summer break,” said Alexandra van Huffelen, the Dutch Minister for Digitalization.
“If they don’t, according to the DPA’s advice, we’ll have to stop using Facebook pages,” she added.
Aleid Wolfsen, the chairman of the Dutch DPA, said people who visit a government page trust that their personal information is safe.
“It’s even more important because sometimes it involves information about kids and young people. They need extra protection,” Wolfsen said.
A Meta spokesperson told CNBC: “We strongly disagree with the advice, which is based on wrong information and misunderstandings about how our products work.”
“We make sure all Meta products follow the laws in the places we offer our services, and we’ll keep talking to the Government to let them use social media to talk to people,” the Meta spokesperson said.
Matthew Holman, a tech and privacy expert at law firm Cripps, said the Dutch regulator is worried that user data could be shared with government departments on Meta’s platform and might have security issues or be monitored by US agencies.
