European Consumer Organization: Meta's (META.US) Paid No Ads Service May Contravene EU Privacy Laws

The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) stated on Thursday that Meta Platforms' (META.US) revised paid no-ad subscription service could violate both antitrust and consumer and privacy laws in the European Union, urging regulators to take action against the US tech giant.Meta launched its paid services for Facebook and Instagram in 2023, and then offered European users the option to receive less personalized ads, and last year it reduced the price by 40%. BEUC filed a complaint with consumer protection authorities about the paid service in 2023, and said the changes last year were only superficial.BEUC director general Agustin Reyna said: "In our view, the tech giant has failed to address the fundamental issue of users of Facebook and Instagram not being given a fair choice, while continuing to push users to use its behavioural advertising system, while weakly claiming compliance with EU law."He added: "It is important that consumer and data protection authorities and the European Commission investigate Meta's latest policy quickly and take effective measures to protect consumers if necessary."BEUC claimed that Meta's misleading practices and unclear terms led users to choose their preferred option. The consumer organisation also said that users could not freely consent to the processing of their data, and that Meta did not minimise the data it collected from users. BEUC also accused Meta of lowering the quality of services for users who did not agree to use their personal data.Meta said the changes last year were in response to requests from EU regulators. In July last year, the company was accused by the EU antitrust regulator of breaching the Digital Markets Act, alleging that its paid no-ad service presented users with a binary choice.