European Union accuses Facebook owner Meta of breaking digital rules with paid ad-free option

LONDON — European Union regulators on Monday accused social media company Meta Platforms of violating the bloc’s new rules. digital competition rule book forcing Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them.

Meta has been offering European users since November the option to pay for ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram as a way to comply with the continent’s rules. strict data privacy rules.

Desktop browser users can pay about 10 euros ($10.50) per month, while iOS or Android users will pay approximately 13 euros to avoid being targeted by ads based on their personal data.

The American tech giant launched the subscription option after the European Union’s top court ruled that under the EU’s strict data privacy rules, Meta must first obtain consent before showing ads to users.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said preliminary results of its investigation show that Meta’s “pay or consent” advertising model violated the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Markets Act.

The commission said Meta’s model does not allow users to exercise their right to “freely consent” to their personal data being used to target them with online ads.

The commission had opened its investigation shortly after the regulation, also known as DMA, came into effect in March. It’s a wide set of regulations aimed at preventing technological “gatekeepers” from cornering digital markets under the threat of strong financial sanctions.

“The DMA is there to give users back the power to decide how their data is used and ensure that innovative companies can compete on an equal footing with the tech giants on data access,” said European Commissioner Thierry Breton, which oversees the bloc’s digital policy. in a sentence.

Meta now has the opportunity to respond to the commission, which is due to conclude its investigation in March 2025. The company could face fines worth 10% of its annual global revenue, which could amount to billions of euros.

“The ad-free subscription follows the direction of Europe’s highest court and complies with the DMA,” Meta said in a statement. “We look forward to further constructive dialogue with the European Commission to close this investigation.”

Under the Digital Markets Act, Meta is classified as one of seven online gatekeepers, while Facebook, Instagram and its advertising business are among two dozen “core platform services” that need the highest level of scrutiny.