EU threatens to fine Meta for saying Facebook is ‘free’

European Union She says she was notified dead. The European Union’s Consumer Protection Cooperation Network said the company has until September 1, 2024, to propose changes to its model, which it called “misleading” and “confusing” to users, or face potential fines.

Meta’s “pay or agree” model, introduced last year, gives users a choice: pay up to €12.99 a month to use Facebook and Instagram without ads or agree to let the company collect and use personal data to deliver personalized ads. The EU doesn’t like what it sees as privacy-invading data use and has already hit Meta separately with Digital Markets Act charges over its model and record fines under the General Data Protection Regulation for transferring user data abroad.

Regulators from the China Competition Commission, which launched their investigation after complaints from consumer watchdog groups, allege that the company uses confusing language to explain how both paid and “free” versions of Facebook and Instagram work, and that their introduction forced people to make a choice without enough time to consider how it would affect them. They also say that describing the ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram as “free” is misleading because it still requires users to consent to their data being used for targeted advertising.

EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders says consumers should not be “tempted” into believing they won’t see ads if they pay for a subscription, or that a service is free even though a company is profiting from their personal data. Companies should be transparent up front about how they use users’ data, he added.

“Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are an established business model in many industries,” Meta spokesperson Matt Pollard said. the edge “The ad-free subscription is in line with the directives of the European Supreme Court and we are confident that it complies with European regulation,” he said in an email.