While Elon Musk’s X is preparing for battle against his platform’s latest European DSA fine, Meta has seemingly had something of a win in its most recent EU regulatory concern, with the EU Commission accepting Meta’s latest proposal to use less personal data for targeted advertising, as an alternative to its pay-or-consent model, in order to align with data usage regulations.
Meta has been going back and forth with EU regulators on the issue over the past few years.
Back in 2023, Meta implemented its initial ad-free subscription offering for EU users, which provided access to both Facebook and Instagram for €9.99 per month, and enabled EU users to opt out of Meta’s data tracking entirely.
The option ensured that Meta remained within EU rules for offering a data tracking opt out, while also ensuring that Meta would still be able to monetize these users. But privacy advocates raised concerns about the offering, saying that it undermined the focus of the GDPR, and its protections against “data capitalism.”
Meta has since revised the offering several times, and has cut the price of its ad-free subscription package significantly, in order to appease EU regulators in an effort to win support for its alternative.
And it seems, now, that Meta has finally struck the right balance to align with EU requirements on this front, by offering another, more limited data usage option.
As per the EU Commission:
“The European Commission acknowledges Meta's undertaking to offer users in the EU an alternative choice of Facebook and Instagram services that would show them less personalized ads, to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This is the first time that such a choice is offered on Meta's social networks. Meta will give users the effective choice between: consenting to share all their data and seeing fully personalized advertising, and opting to share less personal data for an experience with more limited personalized advertising. Meta will present these new options to users in the EU in January 2026.”
So essentially, Meta will no longer force EU users into a binary choice of either having their data used for ads, or paying to cut ads entirely, but will now offer a “less personalized” ad option, that will track less of their data, but will still show them the same amount of ads.
Those ads will just be less relevant as a result, but it will give EU users the option to limit their data usage, in alignment with the aims of the DSA bill.
Though Meta has repeatedly expressed its frustration at the process here.
Meta has previously accused EU regulators of “overreach” in their efforts to regulate data usage, which it says will only end up creating “a worse experience for users and businesses.”
Essentially, the core of Meta’s argument has been that if it’s going to let users opt out of ads, it should still be able to make money from them if they want to continue using its services. Which, in terms of free market dynamics, is correct, and any move to force Meta to offer its services to users for free would imply that Meta is actually a utility, as opposed to a corporate offering.
Which it’s not, and as such, Meta’s within its rights to demand a form of payment, in terms of user data or subscription fees, to operate its business.
EU officials have seemingly sought to dilute this, in favor of protecting user data, but in the end, the result will seemingly be as Meta has initially warned, resulting in a worse outcome for users, in the form of less personalized, less relevant ads.
That probably isn’t the outcome that EU users want, but at the same time, EU regulators are also trying to reinforce the value of personal data, which is a by-product of our increasingly online world, and has been undervalued over time.
So there’s logic to both sides, though I suspect the outcome in this instance will not end up delivering the best result for EU consumers or businesses.
It’s another reason why Meta has been calling on the U.S. government to back it up in resisting EU penalties, and the White House has voiced its support for Meta, and all U.S. social media apps, in battling increasing EU regulation.
But the government has stopped short of stepping in to enact retaliatory measures as yet. Though with President Trump’s friend Elon now feeling the brunt, that could soon change.
Which could also be a big win for Meta, in forcing EU regulators to back down from at least some of their regulatory measures. If it comes to that. EU officials have thus far held the line in the face of threatened retaliation from U.S. officials, and there’s been no official response outlined by the White House.
But that could be coming, as the EU continues to implement more regulations that impact U.S. businesses.
