Meta has been struggling with the European market for its two major apps, Facebook and Instagram, due to the region’s strict privacy regulations. In fact, the tech giant had been hit with a record $1.3 billion fine for how it mishandled European user data back in May 2023 and since then Meta has been trying to avoid directly tussling with regulators.

But in a new and exclusive report from The Wall Street Journal (via TechCrunch), Meta has seemingly gone through with a solution to its regulation woes first brought up back in September – offer an ad-free subscription to European users, which would let them opt out of having their data harvested. 

According to the plan, Meta would charge €10 (about $17) a month for desktop Facebook and Instagram users and €6 (about $14) for each additional linked account. That price would go up to €13 a month for mobile device users due to Meta factoring in commissions charged by Apple and Google app stores. And what about those who can’t or won’t pay up? Then most likely they’ll be ‘opting in’ for ads and for having their social media usage tracked by the tech giant. 

(Image credit: Shutterstock, Meta)

TechRadar reached out to Meta for comment in order to both clarify the reported deal as well as confirm that users would have to pay up for free users. We received the following statement from spokesperson Matt Pollard: “Meta believes in the value of free services that are supported by personalized ads. However, we continue to explore options to ensure we comply with evolving regulatory requirements. We have nothing further to share at this time.”



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