Meta Platforms has offered to almost halve its monthly subscription fee
for Facebook and Instagram to €6 from €10, a senior Meta executive said,
a move that aims to address concerns from both privacy and antitrust
regulators.
The move came amid mounting criticism from privacy activists and
consumer groups about Meta's noads subscription service launched in
Europe in November which critics say requires users to pay a fee to
ensure their privacy.
Meta launched the service to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act
(DMA) which curbs its ability to personalise ads for users without their
consent, hurting its major revenue source.
The company said the fee model seeks to balance the conflicting demands
between EU privacy laws and the DMA.
"We have wanted to accelerate that process for some time because we need
to get to a steady state - so we have offered to drop the price from
€9.99 to €5.99 for a single account and €4 for any additional accounts,"
Meta lawyer Tim Lamb told a European Commission hearing.
"That is by far the lowest end of the range that any reasonable person
should be paying for services of these quality. And I think that is a
serious offer," he said. "The regulatory uncertainty at the moment is
out there and it needs to settle down quickly."
The day-long hearing aims to give Meta's users and third parties the
opportunity to seek clarity on how it complies with the DMA.
Meta made the reduced offer to regulators earlier this year and is now
in talks with data protection authorities, specifically the Irish
watchdog, on the issue.
Users, who consent to be tracked, get a free service which is funded by
advertising revenues.
Companies risk fines of as much as 10pc of their annual global turnover
for DMA breaches.
Irish Independent
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