Meta’s Pay-or-Consent Policy Faces EU Law Breach Claims
Brussels, January 23, 2025-Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, is once again receiving criticism for allegedly violating EU law with its pay-or-consent model.
Consumer advocacy group BEUC has argued that the updated version of the policy, “still does not operate sufficiently,” and continues lacking user centric choices and prompts for behavioral advertising.
The policy was first initiated in October 2023, where Meta’s users were forced to choose between two options: targeting ads based on personal data with free access to its platforms or a subscription at 5.99 € for ad free experience on web facilitated Meta platforms.
They updated their policies after receiving immense backlash from European regulators, one of which was the European Data Protections Board (EDPB), which was in opposition to Meta’s version of non-advertisement economy policies.
Meta’s revised policy now includes a less expensive subscription option with reduced target ads. These changes, however, have still left BEUC unsatisfied.
“European citizens should not be duped by disgraceful changes Meta makes to justify his year-old payment consent policy”
-Agustin Reyna, BEUC’s Director General
while he claimed Meta is enticing users to non opt advertisement into a system suppress with EU regulations.
Reyna, however, is still critical, arguing that “Facebook and Instagram users are not being presented with a fair choice to make.”
BEUC has called on the data protection authorities and the European Commission to initiate a thorough investigation into Meta’s activities.
In response to EDPB’s concerns, Meta explained that these changes are perfectly reasonable given current industry practices. Meta Claims,
“We have made major adjustments to our business model in the EU for the second time in a year now to incorporate regulatory concerns.”
Meta’s arguments only make sense if one ignores its earlier position that the political goals of users and lawmakers are the core of sustainability.
It also exposes some limitations and shortcomings within the scope of competition law in regard to Meta’s policies as well as further attempts to hide behind business models that do not serve any purpose.
The figurative heat is still on Meta, which might pose some questions on the effectiveness of regulatory action.
A question that does arise is the ongoing issue of a democratic backlash: the balance of effective protection of user privacy and competition issues still remain unresolved.
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