EU accuses Meta of misleading consumers by claiming Facebook is free while charging for opting out of personalized ads

The European Union (EU) has accused Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, of misleading consumers by promoting the social media platforms as “free,” while forcing users either to pay a subscription fee for a privacy-friendly experience or allow the company to process user data and be served up personalized ads.

The EU’s Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) network, which is responsible for the enforcement of EU consumer protection laws, announced on July 22 that it had sent a letter to Meta, ordering it to modify its so-called “pay or consent” model that requires users to pay for using Facebook and Instagram or opt in to marketing-related collection and processing of their personal data.

“We will not stand by and watch some sneaky practices that misdeal consumers,” Vera Jourova, vice president for values and transparency at the European Commission, said in a statement.

Specifically, CPC authorities identified several objectionable practices in Meta’s subscription-for-no-ads business model in Europe. This includes “misleading” consumers by using the word “free” while requiring those who don’t want to pay a subscription fee to allow Meta to make money off their personal data by showing them personalized ads.

Another practice that raised CPC concern was that Meta was allegedly “confusing” users by requiring them to navigate through a complex maze of screens and hyperlinks to find out how Meta plans to use the consumer-generated data for personalized marketing.

The CPC also accused Meta of using pressure tactics to get customers to opt into the data processing or pay subscription fees, and of using imprecise language like “your info” to mask references to “personal data.”

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Meta has been given until Sept. 1 to respond to the letter and propose solutions. Failure to do so could result in enforcement actions, including sanctions.

“Consumers must not be lured into into believing that they would either pay and not be shown any ads anymore, or receive a service for free, when, instead, they would agree that the company used their personal data to make revenue with ads,” Dider Reynders, commissioner for justice, at the European Commission, said in a statement.

Meta did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

The CPC action is separate from but related to one taken earlier in July by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, which announced that it had made a preliminary determination that Meta’s “pay or consent” advertising model fails to comply with Article 5(2) Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Article 5(2) of the DMA requires gatekeepers, such as Meta, to obtain user consent when they plan to combine users’ personal data between core platform services and other services.

If the commission’s investigation, set to conclude in March 2025, confirms the preliminary finding on non-compliance with Article 5(4) of the DMA, the commission can impose fines up to 10 percent of Meta’s total worldwide turnover. In case of repeated infringement, Meta could face fines of up to 20 percent of turnover, be forced to sell parts of its business, or be banned from doing business in the EU altogether.

Earlier this year, a group of 28 organizations called on Europe’s privacy enforcers to oppose Meta’s “pay or consent” model, claiming in a joint letter that acceptance of the model would cement its use across other industries and “wash away all realistic protections against surveillance capitalism.”