Meta charges ten euros a month for Facebook without advertising
Published: Monday, Oct 30th 2023, 16:41
Updated At: Tuesday, Oct 31st 2023, 00:54
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The Facebook group Meta earns billions with advertising. In the future, however, Facebook and Instagram users will be able to buy their way out of ads by subscribing. The company is responding to the requirements of regulators.
Internet group Meta is introducing a paid subscription for ad-free use of Facebook and Instagram in Europe. Anyone who wants to use the two social networks without advertising will have to pay ten euros a month in the European Union, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Meta made the announcement in a blog post on Monday.
For an additional linked account - for example, if someone wants to use both Facebook and Instagram ad-free - an additional six euros will be due after a transition period. Until March 1, 2024, the first subscription covers all linked accounts in a user's account center.
The prices for subscriptions taken out on the smartphone are higher. There, the subscription will cost 13 euros instead of 10. Meta is thus passing on its commission payments to app store operators Apple and Google to end customers.
Meta responds to regulation in Europe
Meta is responding to the changing data protection situation in Europe with its paid subscriptions. Following court rulings and decisions by regulators, it is being enforced more strictly, among other things, that users' permission is required for the use of their data to personalize advertising. Also, data from different services under the umbrella of a group may only be combined with the express consent of users.
The option to purchase an ad-free subscription takes into account the requirements of European regulators, the blog post continues. At the same time, the option gives users a choice and allows Meta to continue serving everyone in the EU, the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
At the beginning of the year, the Irish data protection authority had imposed a fine of 390 million euros on Meta for breaches of data protection regulations. In the process, Meta was banned from using the so-called contract legal basis to play out personalized advertising based on tracked user activity. The group then announced that it would ask users in the EU for their consent before allowing providers to serve targeted ads. Those who accept personalized ads can now continue to use the networks free of charge. For all others, the subscription model is to be an alternative.
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