Meta stated on Monday that it will provide a subscription choice without ads for Facebook and Instagram in Europe in light of the significant challenge that it met from regulators in the area this year.Users will have the option to spend 9.99 euros ($11) monthly on web or 12.99 euros ($14) per month on iOS and Android for the ad-free variant of Facebook and Instagram.Meta expressed that the subscription choices were to abide by the "development" of the European rules after it was penalized with a significant fine this year over violations of data regulations.
On Monday, Meta revealed its plan to offer an advertising-free subscription to Facebook and Instagram for those residing in the European Union, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland. For a web-based subscription, the cost is 9.99 euros per month and 12.99 euros per month for those using iOS and Android. This fee will cover all linked accounts that a user has. However, starting from the 1st of March in 2024, an additional fee of 6 euros per month for web-based subscriptions and 8 euros for those on apps will be charged for any additional accounts a user has.
Following January's 390 million euro fine imposed by Ireland's data protection authority due to Meta violating Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Meta attempted to challenge the ruling, but was unsuccessful. This caused the company to shift to a "consent" method, whereby users are asked whether they would like to have their data used for targeted ads. To address regulatory concerns, the introduction of a subscription service providing users in the EU, EEA and Switzerland with the choice of either continuing to use their personalised services for free with ads, or subscribing to stop seeing ads is now being implemented. Meta noted that while people are subscribed, their information will not be used for ads. Additionally, Meta referred to a ruling from the European Court of Justice (CJEU) this year that a company may offer an "alternative" version of its service, without relying on data collection for ads, as a justification for launching the subscription offer.
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