Following of the European Commission preliminary ruling into Apple, Meta is the next big tech company accused of violating the bloc’s Digital Markets Act. The charge centers on the company’s “pay or consent” model, which is said to have breached with the DMA. If ultimately proven culpable, Meta could be slapped with a big fine.
In compliance to the deployment of DMA last year, Meta has launched a “subscription for no ads” to its Facebook and Instagram users in the region. This removes the ads and disables data sharing to those who will pay monthly when using the two services. Meanwhile, the alternative option is a free use to these apps, but requires users to consent that the company will use their data to offer personalized ads.
Now, the latest findings EU’s regulatory body explained this scheme breaches the DMA in two ways. First is that the model doesn’t give users to opt in to use the apps with reduced number of data being shared. Secondly, the Commission said that it “does not allow users to exercise their right to freely consent.”
Instead, EU argues that Meta should allow users who didn’t agree with its terms to be given access to their services, but only utilizing some or partial of their data when providing them personalized ads.
The “Pay or Consent” advertising model of Meta fails to comply with the Digital Markets Act.Our preliminary findings show that this choice forces users to consent to the combination of their personal data and fails to provide them a less personalised but equivalent version of… pic.twitter.com/KJPNfQ71a1 — European Commission (@EU_Commission) July 1, 2024
In line with the preliminary ruling, Meta released a statement to media iterating that its tweaked guidelines complies with the DMA. “We look forward to further constructive dialogue with the European Commission to bring this investigation to a close,” it added.
The social media giant provider has been given a chance to defend its side about the early findings. On the other hand, the Commission plans to announce the final ruling on March 25, 2025, a year after the investigation was opened. If found guilty, Meta could be fined 10 percent of its annual global revenue.
Besides Meta and Apple, the European Commission has also opened its investigation into Google. However, the initial findings are yet to be published.
What are your opinion in the preliminary charges that EU accuse to big tech companies? Do you think that will eventually benefit users in the long run? We want to hear your thoughts in the comments.
