The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has written to EU enforcement authorities to share its concerns that Meta’s latest pay-or-consent policy in the EU may be infringing consumer and data protection law as well as the Digital Markets Act.

Meta rolled out a second version of its pay-or-consent policy at the end of 2024 after the previous implementation caused complaints from consumer and other civil society groups, triggering the opening of investigations by European authorities. In November 2023, the tech giant’s original pay-or-consent mechanism required Facebook and Instagram users to either consent to the processing of their personal data for advertising purposes by the company or pay a fee in order not to be shown advertisements based on their personal data.

BEUC says that the new version of Meta’s pay-or-consent policy fails to address the key problems consumer groups identified in the company's initial pay-or-consent approach. Agustín Reyna, director general of BEUC, said: “European consumers should not be fooled by the cosmetic changes Meta applies to its one-year-old pay-or consent policy. In our view, the tech giant fails to address the fundamental issue that Facebook and Instagram users are not being presented with a fair choice and is making a weak bid to argue it is complying with EU law while still pushing users towards its behavioural ads system.

“It is important for consumer and data protection authorities and the European Commission to quickly investigate Meta’s latest policy and, if needed, take immediate and effective measures to protect consumers.”

BEUC says that Meta’s newest pay-or-consent policy breaches EU law on numerous counts. It argues that it uses misleading practices and unclear terms and confusing interface design to steer users towards Meta’s preferred option and that it degrades the service to users who do not consent to the use of their personal data.

Meta has defended its pay or consent model, claiming it is a way to comply with data privacy regulations by offering users a choice to either pay for a service with limited data collection or consent to personalised advertising. The company maintains that its approach adheres to legal requirements.

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