La European Commission has opened a new chapter in the confrontation with Big Tech, this time targeting Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The focus is on the controversial “Pay or Agree“, the new personal data management model introduced by Meta in Europe in November 2023. According to Brussels, this model violates the Digital Market Act (DMA), a law that aims to ensure fair competition in the digital market by regulating the practices of large online platforms.
The accusation comes shortly after the EU took its first legal action under the DMA against Apple, highlighting the European Union's firm position in regulating large digital platforms, especially those considered “gatekeepers” with a large user base in Europe.
The EU's accusation against Meta
The DMA requires large tech companies to obtain the explicit consent of users to combine their personal data between different services. In November, Meta introduced an ad-free subscription option for Facebook and Instagram in the EU. Users can choose to accept data tracking to use ad-supported services for free, or pay to have their data not shared.
According to the European authorities, this choice it doesn't offer users a real alternative, essentially forcing them to grant consent for the processing of personal data if they want to access the services without additional costs. The European Commission has expressed concerns regarding users' freedom of choice and transparency in data processing.
What happens now?
At the moment, it is not yet a definitive sentence; we are in the preliminary phase of the investigation. The European Commission planned to conclude the investigation within 12 months of the start of the procedure, which took place on 25 March. Meta, therefore, has the opportunity to defend itself by examining the documents in the file presented by the Commission. The holding company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp claims that the advertising-free subscription model complies with the directives of the European Court and the DMA. The company has expressed its willingness to collaborate with Brussels to resolve the differences that emerged from the preliminary investigation. The final decisions could affect not only Meta, which rrisks fines of up to 20% of its global turnover, but also how other large digital platforms operate and adapt to evolving European regulations.
