Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has once again been accused of breaching a number of European regulations with the new version of its ‘pay or consent’ subscription model.
According to the European Consumers’ Organisation (BEUC), which issued a press release on Thursday 23 January, Meta contravenes both consumer and data protection regulations, as well as the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The ‘pay-or-consent’ system, initially launched at the end of 2023, offered users two options: consent to the processing of data for targeted advertising purposes, or pay a subscription to avoid personalised advertising.
This decision was strongly criticised by several consumer associations (see EUROPE 13458/14) and led to the opening of an investigation by the European Commission (see EUROPE 13443/4).
Since then, the model has been revised, including a reduction in subscription fees and an option for less personalised advertising.
But according to BEUC, these changes “ignore the fundamental problems” raised.
“In our view, Meta [...] is making a feeble attempt to claim that it complies with European legislation while continuing to drive users to its targeted ad system”, said Agustín Reyna, the organisation’s director general.
BEUC considers that Meta continues to breach European legislation “in many respects”, by offering no real option to opt out of the targeted processing of personal data and by degrading the user experience for those who refuse to share their information.
BEUC calls on the EU to take swift and effective enforcement action against Meta.
See the press release: https://aeur.eu/f/f6c (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)