Meta said his model complied with a ruling by the European Supreme Court. (Representative)
Meta Platforms was charged Monday by EU antitrust regulators with failing to comply with landmark tech rules as they targeted the US company’s recently introduced reward or permission advertising model, which has already been targeted by privacy regulators and the ire of activists.
The tech giant launched the ad-free subscription service for Facebook and Instagram in Europe last November and said users who agree to be tracked will get a free service funded by ad revenue. Or they can pay for an ad-free service.
The European Commission, which acts as a regulator of the EU’s competitiveness, said the binary choice violates the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to rein in the power of Big Tech as she has sent her preliminary findings to Meta.
It said the binary choice forces users to agree to the combination of their personal data and does not offer them a less personalized but equivalent version of Meta’s social networks.
“We want to give citizens the opportunity to take control of their own data and opt for a less personalized advertising experience,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
Meta said his model complied with a ruling by the European Supreme Court.
“The no-ads subscription follows the direction of the highest court in Europe and complies with the DMA. We look forward to further constructive dialogue with the European Commission to conclude this investigation,” a Meta spokesperson said.
Meta can adjust its advertising model to avoid a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual revenue if found guilty of DMA violations. The Commission has until March next year to complete its investigation.
Privacy activists and privacy watchdogs have also criticized Meta’s advertising model.
Reuters was first to report that EU competition enforcer would charge Meta for non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act.
The charges against Meta came a week after the EU watchdog filed its first DMA complaint against Apple for failing to comply with the new rule.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
