Sources: in September, Meta pitched EU regulators a plan to charge Facebook and Instagram users a subscription to avoid ads, starting at ~€10/month for desktop

European users would have option to pay fee or agree to personalized ads, according to company's pitch to regulators

Wall Street Journal 2023-10-04 Sam Schechner

Context & Ripple Effects

Meta had already been weighing paid, ad-free EU tiers as a response to privacy concerns and regulatory scrutiny. This pitch turns that consideration into a concrete proposed choice: pay a monthly fee or continue with personalized advertising.

The proposal also foreshadows Meta's later formal EU, EEA, and Switzerland ad-free offering, making this an early step in the company’s effort to preserve a consent-based advertising model while adding a subscription alternative.

First-order effects

EU regulators must assess whether a pay-or-personalized-ads choice addresses the concerns driving scrutiny of Meta’s Facebook and Instagram advertising practices.
European Facebook and Instagram users could face a new paid tier at roughly €10 per month on desktop, while users who do not pay would remain in the personalized-ad experience.

Second-order effects

Meta would gain a second monetization path for privacy-sensitive users, but would need to balance subscription revenue against the advertising value of users who opt out of personalization.
The proposal raises the bar for other ad-funded platforms facing European privacy pressure: a no-ads subscription can become a compliance and product-design option, not just a premium feature.

Third-order effects

If regulators accept this model, European consumer internet services may increasingly separate access from personalized-ad consent, turning privacy choices into explicit pricing and product tiers.
The outcome remains uncertain: regulatory acceptance would determine whether subscriptions become a durable alternative to targeted advertising or merely a contested workaround.

The trend: Privacy regulation is pushing ad-funded platforms to test paid, lower-data alternatives alongside free personalized-ad services.

Discussion

@wolfofharcourt @wolfofharcourt on x
The Zero Interest Rate Policy free lunches are over folks Facebook $META and Instagram to charge users monthly subscription for add free version in the EU Everything that was once free or sold below cost is pivoting: social media, delivery apps, streaming services What's next? [i…
@mattnavarra Matt Navarra on x
Meta Floats €13 a Month for Ad-Free Instagram or Facebook Pricing for Meta's Ad-Free Plan - Instagram OR Facebook account (paid via web) €10 a mth - Instagram AND Facebook account (paid via web) €16 a mth - Additional linked accounts (paid via web) €6 per each... [image]
@fjeronimo Francisco Jeronimo on threads
I would pay $14 a month for Facebook and Instagram free of ads, but not $14 for each service and definitely not an additional cost for each linked device. Given the choice to subscribe to an ad-free plan, most users may reconsider and find ads acceptable after all 🤡 Meta floats …
@adamsinger Adam Singer on x
$14 a month, they won't share any ad rev with you, AND they'll still throttle your links. Oh okay but there's no ads. My goodness, you're not NFLX guys. Think I'd rather stick a fork in an electrical socket than pay meta MRR to see influencer selfies https://www.wsj.com/...
@caffar3cristina Cristina Caffarra on x
This ⬇️. @Meta wants us to pay for our fundamental rights. So the rich can have them, everyone else is exploited. Plus they dont tell us what they will do w the data anyway. But they do give us a measure of value they put on it (class action types take note). Also @AMundt_BKartA
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
BS. Meta floats consumers may have to pay every time privacy laws threaten their surveillance business. But they have more than enough profit to deliver services and this would likely be illegal under GDPR 7.4. Better headline,=>"Facebook floating likely illegal scheme in EU" [im…
@pressgirlk @pressgirlk on x
Meta adopts old tactic of “look what the government is *making* us do.” 😒 No one forced them to make profits based on privacy exploitation and workarounds to dogde EU privacy & US consumer laws either — now they want to force ppl to keep their unsustainable profitability levels.
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
For those reading scary riffs on Facebook may have to charge users due to privacy regulations, it's a bad take. The binding law (GDPR) and court opinions on Facebook's dominance and imbalance in bargaining for its users says they can't be made to pay FB for their privacy rights.
@halvarflake Halvar Flake on x
This is a pretty disingenious proposal. Meta has pretty good data about the average revenue per european user from Ad clicks, and $10 a month it isn't. If Meta was serious, the monthly price would be closer to the expected revenue per user using Ads. https://www.wsj.com/...
@seyitaylor @seyitaylor on x
I've deleted the tweet where I said Meta should 100% do this and I'm happy that this is the direction in which we're going. If you don't like the way it's paid for, open your wallet and pay for it. https://www.wsj.com/...
r/technews r on reddit
Meta Plans to Charge $14 a Month for Ad-Free Instagram or Facebook | European users would have option to pay fee or agree to personalized ads, according to company's pitch to regulators
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Meta Plans to Charge $14 a Month for Ad-Free Instagram or Facebook | European users would have option to pay fee or agree to personalized ads, according to company's pitch to regulators
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Meta Plans to Charge $14 a Month for Ad-Free Instagram or Facebook
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Meta floats $14 a month ad-free plan for Instagram, Facebook in EU - WSJ

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