EU Accuses Meta of Violating Digital Competition Rules with Advertising Model

The European Union has charged Meta, the parent company of Facebook, with violating the bloc’s competition rules through its new “pay or consent” advertising model. This model, which forces users of Facebook and Instagram to either see ads or pay a minimum of €10 to avoid them, allegedly breaches the Digital Markets Act by not allowing users to freely consent to the combining of their personal data across Meta’s services for personalized advertising. Meta insists its practices are compliant with European law, but if found non-compliant, could face fines amounting to billions of euros.

• The EU accuses Meta of forcing Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them, in violation of the Digital Markets Act.
• Meta’s advertising model does not permit users to freely consent to their personal data from various services being combined for targeted ads.
• Meta contends that its subscription for no-ads model aligns with the highest court in Europe and complies with the Digital Markets Act.
• If ruled non-compliant, Meta could face fines worth up to 10% of its annual global revenues, which could amount to billions of euros.
• The EU has recently taken actions against other tech giants, including Apple and Microsoft, for antitrust violations.
• In separate corporate news, French IT giant Atos reaches a debt restructuring deal, converting €2.9 billion of debt into shares and securing new financing, providing a lifeline amid its financial turmoil.
• Global financial markets responded positively to political developments in France, with the Paris stock exchange closing up more than 1% amidst legislative elections.

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