EU ready to blame Meta for ‘payment or consent’ model in latest big tech crackdown

The European Union (EU) is set to charge Meta under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for its “pay or consent” model offered to customers in the EU, the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. The EU’s move, which was shared with the Financial Times (FT) by three sources familiar with the matter, comes a week after the EU also targeted Apple.

The pay-or-consent model in question was launched by Meta towards the end of last year. By paying a monthly subscription, users had the choice to use Facebook and Instagram without any advertising. The EU is now expected to say that Meta offers users a so-called “false alternative”.

Under EU DMA rules, tech giants like Meta must obtain consent from users when they intend to combine or cross-use personal data across different platform services. base. If the EU takes issue with Meta charging users not to see ads, this essentially means that Meta should offer its services for free without personalized advertising if users refuse to give consent.

It should be noted that the EU itself has not yet shared this information. The European Commission (EC), which governs the EU, declined to comment on the matter and Meta did not comment either.

If the EU goes ahead with this, Meta could face a fine of 10 percent of its global turnover and up to 20 percent in the event of a repeat offence. The EC began investigating the tech giants in March and has until next March to finalise its preliminary findings.

While the European Commission may now feel emboldened by its new powers, this could ultimately lead to a backlash from big tech in the future. We’ve already seen products like Google Gemini and Apple Intelligence delayed, if at all, launching in the EU due to regulatory concerns. So while EU users may benefit from more protections, they may also be prevented from accessing innovative products that could cause harm in other ways, such as reduced productivity.

Source: FT | Image via Depositphotos.com