The European Data Protection Board says large online platforms like Meta should give users an option to use their services for free without behavioral ads
Meta Platforms (META.O) and other large online platforms should give users an option to use their services for free without targeted advertising …
ReutersFoo Yun Chee
Context & Ripple Effects
The EDPB’s position escalates a dispute over whether privacy can be exchanged for a subscription fee. Meta had already introduced a paid ad-free tier for its EU services after regulators challenged contractual consent for personalized advertising.
Political and consumer pressure had hardened around that model: MEPs called on Meta to abandon the “pay or okay” choice, while consumer groups filed GDPR complaints over it. The new position moves the debate from Meta’s implementation toward the minimum choice regulators expect from large platforms.
First-order effects
Meta and similarly situated large platforms face pressure to provide a free service path that does not rely on behavioral advertising, rather than treating a paid subscription as the sole alternative.
Meta’s EU ad-free offering and its consent design come under greater regulatory scrutiny, with the EDPB signaling that payment should not be the price of avoiding targeted ads.
Second-order effects
A free non-behavioral option would force platforms to distinguish more clearly between contextual and behavioral advertising, potentially reducing the addressable audience for the latter.
Other ad-funded platforms operating in Europe may need to reassess consent flows before adopting Meta-style subscription alternatives, especially after the consumer complaints over pay-or-consent.
Third-order effects
If regulators consistently reject paid-only privacy alternatives, European platform monetization may shift from consent-as-access toward service designs that work with less behavioral data.
The case tests whether large platforms can use pricing to preserve data-driven ad models under GDPR, or whether regulators will set a more uniform baseline for freely given consent.
The trend: European privacy enforcement is increasingly targeting the product and pricing choices through which dominant platforms obtain consent for behavioral advertising.
This is going to be interesting to watch. The hilarious outcome of course would be if Facebook told users that you can have a choice between ads for things you might be interested in or ads for things you probably aren't and they choose the first - where does that leave the priv…
I think what Europe learned from the pharmaceutical industry is that they can actually just make industries profitless in Europe and America will pay for them. They're like our adult kid living in the basement. We really should charge them rent, but there's a lot of history the…
Hey EU bureaucrats, instead of telling a private company how to do their business, here's two alternatives for you. 1. You create a free social media app that doesn't do personalized advertising and compete with other apps. Surely everyone would prefer that, right? 2. Tell you…
BIG. Smart response by EU Data Protection Board if they're drawing monopoly and market power nuance around “Consent or Pay” models forcing users to opt in to tracking of them to avoid subscription (Facebook and Instagram driving this). 1/2 [image]
“MOST” EDPB wants to be conciliatory but it should be absolutely clear where the general ban on consent-or-pay applies, otherwise this issue will continue being litigated for the next decade. Exemptions must be very narrow and legally sound. And this https://techcrunch.com/... [i…
I just started reading the big EDPB Opinion on “Consent or Pay” models. First para of the Exec Summary in & already 2 interesting points: - the Bundeskartellamt CJEU decision was🗝️ - EDPB leaves out of the scope the omnipresent newspaper paywalls huh! 1/ https://www.edpb.europa.e…
So important and pivotal! 👏🏻💪 In particular the conclusions on the unfairness of exorbitantly high fees (like in the case of Meta). In sum, even if the CJEU suggested indirectly that a fee can be asked, this fee should be low and avoid the irresistible situation of always accep…
The EDPB opinion on “pay or OK” is very odd. It starts by asserting that personal data are non-transactable, but by paragraph 85 is arguing for lower prices.
Industry is obviously not happy with this. EDPB is not a legislature but there is a reasonable observation that they have been “legislating” from the benc- I mean board. Not because their position engages in legal gymnastics (the opposite if they're trying to justify this model)
It's remarkable that such a drastic change to the digital landscape (and reinterpretation of the GDPR) could be made without a wide consultation and proper impact assessment. The long-term impact on SMEs in Europe who won't be able to target their audiences is massive.
EDPB has once again chosen to adopt a paternalistic view of data protection that limits personal digital autonomy and infantalizes users without considering realistic alternatives. GDPRs aim of facilitating data processing is again ignored. Hopefully the CJEU is more reasonable.
Germany's cartel office has been leading here with the integration of antitrust/monopoly analysis with privacy law determining a person isn't able to freely consent if they're dealing with an imbalance in power with Facebook, et al. 2/2
@EU_EDPB In most cases. So when is it OK? Does this mean there has to be an option where all the users have to look at ads that have no concern to them?
The EDPB has adopted an Art. 64(2) opinion on consent or pay models. The EDPB considers that, in most cases, it will not be possible for large online platforms to comply with the requirements for valid consent, when offering only a binary choice ➡️https://europa.eu/ !D4Trkq [imag…
Shutting off what @eric_seufert has called “the paid growth machine” for European SMEs, DTC brands, and mobile developers, will make the European digital market less attractive for entrepreneurs and investors, less competitive, and less innovative. https://mobiledevmemo.com/...
Regardless of your feelings about FB, YT et all, forcing businesses to offer a discounted product, because some people don't like how their product is made & bought to market is literally crazy. Call me old fashioned but if I don't like a product I don't use it.
issue isn't just about paying either. EDPB has accepted that some “incentives” may be permissible in its guidelines on consent but didn't really clarify criteria for what is and isn't permissible. That's probably because their thinking on this issue is mostly vibes-based because
🥳WIN: @EU_EDPB heard civil society's voices to stand up for people's right to have control over their data. @POLITICOEurope reports: EDPB opposed #Meta's plan to charge for privacy. #PayorOkay @itxasdo explains why privacy is not for sale for @euronews: https://www.euronews.com/.…