The European Commission (EC from European Commission) has decided to finally block Meta's heavily criticized plan to charge a subscription fee to users who want to protect their privacy. 
The EC announced on Monday that Meta is at risk of sanctions under EU consumer law if it cannot resolve key concerns about Meta's so-called "pay or consent" model. Meta's model is problematic, the commission said, because Meta "asked consumers overnight to either sign up to use Facebook and Instagram for a fee or consent to Meta's use of their personal data to display personalized advertisements, enabling Meta to generate revenue.
"Because users received such a quick notification, they were exposed to an undue pressure to quickly choose between the two models, fearing that they would immediately lose access to their accounts and their network of contacts," the EC said. To protect consumers, the EC has sent a letter to Meta asking the company to propose solutions to resolve the Commission's biggest concerns by 1 September.
The commission even says that Meta's "pay or consent" model is "misleading" which is of great concern because it uses the term "free" for an ad-serving platform, even though Meta "can earn revenue from the use of of your personal data to display personalized advertisements”. So it seems that Meta doesn't think that providing personal information doesn't cost users, while EC Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders apparently does.
A Meta spokesperson said: “Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are an established business model in many industries. The ad-free subscription follows the guidelines of the highest court in Europe and we are confident that it complies with the European regulation.”
