EU claims Meta is breaking the law by charging for ad-free social media

The European Commission said Meta, which is owned by Facebook, violates the law with its “pay or consent” advertising model.

The tech giant's new service in the EU will require users to either consent to receiving personalized ads or pay $12.99 a month to remove them.

The European Commission told Meta that it took a “preliminary view” that the “binary” advertising choices offered to users were not compliant with the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

But Meta maintains that its EU advertising model is compliant.

“Our ad-free subscriptions are DMA compliant as instructed by the European Supreme Court,” a Meta spokesperson said.

The company could face fines of up to 10% of its global revenue if the EU finds it is not complying with the rules.

The EU said the DMA stipulates that users who do not consent “should continue to have access to equivalent services that use less personal data”, in this case personalised advertising.

The move comes less than a week after EU regulators accused Apple of violating the law with its App Store, marking the first time they have found a company in breach of the DMA.

“Despite being a newcomer to the EU's digital regulatory sandpit, the DMA is wasting no time in digging in,” Jo Jones, from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), told the BBC.

“Many questions are being raised about the implementation of the EU's significantly expanded toolbox of digital regulations and the links between them,” he said.

“There is no time to answer these questions, so enforcement is off to a swift and critical start.”

Meta faces tougher obligations as one of several large tech companies designated as “gatekeepers” under EU rules designed to keep digital platforms fair and competitive.

The company adopted a “pay or consent” model in 2023, but this has raised concerns from a number of European data watchdog groups.

In April, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted an opinion stating that platforms that charge for access to equivalent services without personalized advertising “should seriously consider offering additional alternatives.”

Mehta in March proposed reducing its base subscription fee from $9.99 to $5.99 to ease regulators' concerns.

But the European Commission said Meta's model doesn't offer real choice for users.

“We want citizens to be able to control their data and choose less personal advertising experiences,” said Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission's executive vice-president and head of competition policy.

He added that the European Commission's investigation, which began at the end of March, is aimed at allowing rivals to compete in the digital advertising market “where gatekeepers like Meta have amassed the personal data of millions of EU citizens for years.”

It aims to complete the investigation within the next 12 months.

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