euters reported that Meta's revised no-ads subscription platform might still breach EU consumer and privacy laws, as well as antitrust laws. Even more so,
the European Consumer Organization, also known as the BEUC, stated this Thursday that it is urging regulators to take measures against the tech giant.
Meta has created a subscription-based service, whereby Facebook and Instagram users would have the possibility of receiving less personalized ads and a 40% cut in fees for European users.
However, the European Consumer Organization complained to the consumer protection authorities about the fee-based service in 2023 and said the changes made were cosmetic.
Augustin Reyna, the BEUC General Director said “In our view, the tech giant fails to address the fundamental issue that Facebook and Instagram users are not being presented with a fair choice and is making a weak bid to argue it is complying with EU law while still pushing users towards its behavioral ads system,". He also added that “It is important for consumer and data protection authorities and the European Commission to quickly investigate Meta's latest policy and, if needed, take immediate and effective measures to protect consumers,".
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Even more so, the BEUC alleges that Meta’s practices were misleading and were under unclear terms, leading users towards the platform’s preferred terms. Another complaint was due to the consumer group's possibility for its users to give their access to their data to be processed, also adding that Meta does not reduce the data it gathers from its users.
Meta was also accused of degrading the services they offer users who do not agree to the use of their personal data. Meta’s response was that the changes they made were in response to the demand from EU regulators last year. Last year in July, Meta was charged by the EU antitrust regulators for breaching the Digital Markets Act, also adding that its paid ad-free service was made a binary choice for users.
By
Bill O'Neill
•
January 23, 2025 10:10 AM
