Social media giant Meta may begin charging its European customers US$ 14 per month. This charge is for an Instagram and Facebook subscription that is ad-free. According to the report, Meta officials shared the idea with EU privacy regulators, digital competition regulators in Brussels, and privacy regulators in Ireland.
About the Service of Meta
In accordance with the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, Meta also received the title of “gatekeeper” last month. Along with other restrictions, the act forbids businesses from combining customer personal data across their many services. In an industry dominated by US companies, the EU seeks to regulate big tech to protect European users and promote competition.
Meta will charge customers about 10 euros, or US$ 10.46. In addition, this charge is for a monthly membership to Facebook or Instagram for a web user. In addition, it will charge an additional US$ 6 for each new account.
Membership Charge and Other Details of the Service
Furthermore, Meta would take into account the in-app purchase fees levied by Apple’s and Google’s app stores. Thus, the membership cost for mobile devices would increase to almost 13 euros per month.
The subscription no ads (SNA) plan will be available to European customers in the upcoming months. In addition, it will offer consumers the option of continuing to use Facebook and Instagram with targeted advertisements or paying for their services without any adverts. Meta disclosed this to authorities. It is unclear whether Irish or Belgian regulators will deem Meta’s new SNA plan compliant with EU standards.
Closing Note
Customized advertisements fund the business to support free services. However, it is open to looking into ways to meet “evolving regulatory requirements.”
During the first half of 2023, the firm had about 258 million monthly Facebook users and 257 million Instagram users, according to Meta estimates.
