Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, confirmed it would slash the price of its ad-free subscription model in a bid to end European Union scrutiny of how it uses users’ personal data.
Meta’s competition lawyer Timothy Lamb told a Brussels workshop Tuesday that the company has offered to lower its subscription price — assuring subscribers see no targeted advertisements — to €5.99 per month for a single account, with a €4 fee for each additional account.
That’s down from the original cost of nearly €13 offered to Facebook and Instagram users last November (factoring in additional app store fees), with an €8 charge for an additional account.
“That is by far the lowest end of the range that any reasonable person should be paying for services of this quality,” Lamb said. The rate does not include additional fees users will pay if they download through app stores such as Apple’s or Google’s.
It comes as the social media giant faces scrutiny from European online privacy and competition regulators over its advertising-free model. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) is expected to issue an opinion on the new model in the coming days.
Lamb said Meta made the offer to “accelerate the process” and appease privacy regulators, calling the new rate “a serious offer.”
“We need to move on,” he said, adding that “the regulatory uncertainty at the moment is out there and it needs to settle down quickly.”
The company is also a target of the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which includes strict provisions on how Big Tech groups handle user data across their platforms for advertising purposes.
Meta’s subscription model has drawn ire from campaigners and EU lawmakers, who argue it doesn’t give users a real choice in how their data is managed. A group of Parliament lawmakers published an open letter on March 15 calling on Meta to ax the scheme, calling it “unjust and inappropriate.”
CLARIFICATION: The headline of this alert has been updated to clarify that the pricing is an offer made by Meta to regulators.
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