Meta Could Be Fined Every Day If It Does Not Change Ad Model, EU Says

The EU is probing if Meta’s changes to its “pay or consent” model are enough to comply with the Digital Markets Act.

Meta is under renewed pressure from EU regulators over its controversial advertising model, which forces users to pay to stop their data from being sold to advertisers. The EU has warned that the company could face daily fines if it fails to bring its practices in line with the block’s digital regulations.

The so-called “pay or consent” model was introduced in November 2023, where users with paid subscriptions to Instagram or Facebook could opt out of personalised ads. Under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, if a user does not consent to their personal data being processed for targeted advertising, they must be offered “a less personalised but equivalent alternative.”

After the legislation became legally binding in March 2024, Meta introduced free, less-personalised options for European ...