The European Union says he has notified Meta that its “pay or consent” model for facebook and instagram could violate consumer protection laws. The EU’s Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) says the company has until September 1, 2024 to propose changes to its model, which it calls “misleading” and “confusing” for users, or face potential fines.
Meta’s “pay or consent” model, which was introduced last year, gives users a choice: pay up to €12.99 a month to use facebook and instagram ad-free or consent to the company collecting and using personal data to serve personalized ads. The EU doesn’t like what it sees as privacy-violating data use and has already separately hit Meta with charges under the Digital Markets Act for its model and record fines under the GDPR for transferring user data abroad.
CPC regulators, who launched their investigation following complaints from consumer advocacy groups, say the company uses confusing language to explain how the paid and “free” versions of facebook and instagram work and that their launch pressured people into making a decision without enough time to consider how it would affect them. They also say calling the ad-free versions of facebook and instagram “free” is misleading, as it still requires users to consent to the use of their data for personalized ads.
EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said customers should not be “fooled” into thinking they won't see ads if they pay for the subscription, or that it's free even though the company profits from their personal data. Companies should be transparent from the start about how they use users' data, he added.
“Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are a well-established business model in many industries,” said Meta spokesman Matt Pollard. The edge In an email, “The ad-free subscription follows the guidance of Europe’s highest court and we are confident that it complies with European regulation.”