Meta's model of allowing EU users to receive personalized ads or pay for an ad-free version of Instagram or Facebook violates the new Digital Markets Act, European regulators said in preliminary findings Monday.
European Union regulators have accused social media company Meta Platforms of breaching the bloc’s new digital competition rulebook by forcing Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them.
The European Commission, which targeted Apple’s App Store last week, said Meta’s binary choice between paying for a subscription or accepting personalized ads, flouted the bloc’s digital rules and the violation potentially exposes the company to a fine worth billions of dollars.
The latest case focuses on Meta's new ad-free subscription model for Facebook and Instagram, which has sparked multiple complaints over privacy concerns
The EU highlighted how the model doesn’t allow users to opt in to a service that uses less of their data and doesn’t let them “exercise their right to freely consent” to the use of their data.
EU regulators say Facebook owner Meta is violating new digital rules by forcing users to pay to avoid seeing ads, arguing that the model does not give users a fair choice.
European Union regulators accused social media company Meta Platforms of breaching the bloc's new digital competition rulebook by forcing Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them.
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Meta's Facebook and Instagram Subscription Model Breaks EU Rules | Since Then
