Brussels has accused Meta of violating the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) with its new “pay or consent” advertising model, which requires users to either consent to targeted ads or pay to avoid them. The European Commission (EC) charged Meta following the tech giant’s launch of a no-ads subscription service for Facebook and Instagram in Europe last November. The EC argues that this model does not give users the option to freely consent to the combination of their personal data from various Meta-operated sites and fails to provide an equivalent less personalized version of the social networks.
The charge against Meta is just one in a series of actions taken by the EC against Big Tech companies since the DMA came into force earlier this year. Recently, the EC issued its first DMA charge against Apple, alleging that the company’s App Store rules breach the rules by preventing app developers from offering alternative offers. Meta has also faced investigations regarding child safety on its platforms and the impact of phasing out its misinformation tracking tool CrowdTangle.
If found guilty of violating the DMA, Meta could face fines of up to 10 percent of its global annual turnover. Meta has stated that its subscription for no ads follows the direction of the highest court in Europe and complies with the DMA, expressing a willingness to engage in further dialogue with the EC to bring the investigation to a close. The Commission has until March next year to complete its investigation, while privacy activists and watchdogs have also criticized Meta’s advertising model.
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