Meta became the second company after Apple to be sued by the European Union (EU) for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The EU says Meta's actions asking users to choose between paying for a service without advertising or a free service but with personal data used for advertising violates a gazetted act to ensure the rights of EU residents.
In the EU's view, users should be given a third option where ads are still displayed but with more limited use of the user's personal data. Since the company's inception, Meta has used user data as payment for free services on Facebook and Instagram.
Through this claim, the EU wants to empower users to control how their personal data is used and choose not to be served targeted advertising based on usage habits. Companies found guilty of violating the DMA face up to 10% of their annual revenue.
Meta rejected the EU's claims and stated their ad-free paid service follows the DMA. They now see They hope to have a more constructive dialogue with the EU to resolve this issue.