For UK users tired of sponsored posts and targeted ads interrupting their Instagram and Facebook experience, Meta is now offering a solution, but it comes at a cost. The social media giant is launching an ad-free subscription service, allowing people to opt out of its powerful advertising engine for a monthly fee. This is Meta’s answer to intense pressure from data watchdogs over how it uses personal information.
The new service, set to roll out in the coming weeks, will cost £3.99 per month for mobile phone users and a slightly lower £2.99 per month for those on the web. A key detail is that users with linked Facebook and Instagram accounts need only subscribe once to enjoy an ad-free experience on both platforms. Those who prefer not to pay can continue to use the services for free, albeit with the same level of personalised advertising as before.
The move has garnered support from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has been critical of Meta’s practices in the past. An ICO spokesperson expressed approval, noting that this change moves Meta away from making ad targeting a compulsory part of its terms. This follows the ICO’s long-held position that users should have a clear “opt-out” and a notable legal settlement between Meta and a UK campaigner on this very issue.
This UK reception is a world away from the one Meta received in the European Union. There, an identical subscription model was ruled to be in breach of the Digital Markets Act. The European Commission penalised Meta with a €200m fine, stating that the company should have offered a free version that simply uses less detailed data for ads, rather than presenting a binary choice between paying and being comprehensively tracked.
The differing responses from the UK and EU regulators are telling. Legal expert Gareth Oldale of TLT highlighted that the ICO’s decision is “illustrative of the UK government’s direction to regulators to support economic growth.” This “pro-business” stance further widens the regulatory gap between the UK and the EU, creating a distinct digital market with different rules for tech giants and different rights for users.