Meta risks fines over ‘pay for privacy’ model breaking EU rules

AFP | Brussels, Belgium

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The EU accused Facebook owner Meta on Monday of breaching the bloc’s digital rules, paving the way for potential fines worth billions of euros. The charges against the US tech titan follow a finding last week against Apple that marked the first time Brussels had levelled formal accusations under the EU’s ground-breaking Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The latest case focuses on Meta’s new ad-free subscription model for Facebook and Instagram, which has sparked multiple complaints over privacy concerns.

Meta’s “pay or consent” system means users have to pay to avoid data collection, or agree to share their data with Facebook and Instagram to keep using the platforms for free.

“Meta has forced millions of users across EU into a binary choice: ‘pay or consent’,” the EU’s top tech enforcer, commissioner Thierry Breton, said.

The European Commission said it informed Meta of its “preliminary view” that the model the company launched last year “fails to comply” with the DMA.