On Monday, the European Commission (EC) announced that Meta’s “pay or consent” advertising model is in violation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Meta introduced this model in 2023 as a response to being instructed to allow users to opt out of personalized ads in 2022. The binary choice of paying for no ads or agreeing to personalized ads fails to provide users with a less personalized option.
Meta will have the opportunity to respond to these preliminary findings in writing, and the investigation by the Commission began on March 25 and will conclude within 12 months. If Meta is found to be non-compliant, it could face fines of up to 10% of its global revenue. A spokesperson for Meta stated that the subscription option for no ads was compliant with the DMA and court ruling in Europe. However, Meta is currently facing scrutiny for potentially violating the DMA alongside Apple, who has also been notified of potential violations due to their App Store rules being in violation of the Act. The EU continues to monitor and enforce regulations to ensure fair competition in digital markets.
