European consumer watchdog again goes after Meta's ad-free subscription

European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) is again after Meta's ad-free subscription service, which the social media giant rolled out in the EU for the second time last year. The organization raised concerns to relevant EU authorities that "Meta’s latest pay-or-consent policy in the EU may be infringing consumer and data protection law as well as the Digital Markets Act."

To recall, Meta introduced its ad-free subscription for Facebook and Instagram in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland in October 2023 to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Both laws restrict how much personal data an online service can take in the name of an ad-supported free service.

Its "Pay or Okay" model soon caught the attention of consumer groups, who filed a complaint against the company over "unfair commercial practices," alleging it forces users to "either consent to the processing of their data for advertising purposes by the company or pay in order not to be shown advertisements."

The social media giant had to launch a second version of its ad-free subscription in November 2024 after the European regulators took the matter into their hands, reducing its subscription price from €9.99 to €5.99.

In its latest attempt, the European consumer watchdog BEUC argues that Meta "fails to address the fundamental problems" in the "pay or consent" initial approach. The organization has listed several counts where it alleges Meta's ad-free subscription breaches EU laws, including:

• Using misleading practices and unclear terms and confusing interface design to steer users towards Meta’s preferred option;
• Not giving to users the possibility to consent fully freely to their data being processed, while the tech giant does not minimise the data it collects from users;
• Meta degrades the service to users who do not consent to the use of their personal data.

BEUC's director general Agustín Reyna called the changes applied by Meta "cosmetic," adding that the company is not giving a fair choice to the users and "making a weak bid to argue it is complying with EU law while still pushing users towards its behavioural ads system."

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that a Meta spokesperson didn't align with BEUC's conclusions and said that the changes introduced in November go in line with EU regulator demands and exceed EU law requirements.

Source

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