Meta says it will offer an ad-free subscription option to UK users of its Facebook and Instagram platforms.
The company, which earns around $164.6bn a year, about 98% of its revenue, through ads has made the announcement following a landmark privacy case.
The tech giant said that users aged 18+ will get notifications over the coming weeks offering ad-free subscriptions to Facebook and Instagram for £2.99 a month via web browsers, or £3.99 on mobile devices.
It means that users will have the choice to pay or continue using the free service and getting targeted advertising.
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It comes following guidance from the The Information Commissioner’s Office:
“Following the ICO’s engagement with Meta about how it uses personal information for its advertising model, we welcome Meta’s decision to ask users for consent to use their personal information to target them with ads.
“This moves Meta away from targeting users with ads as part of the standard terms and conditions for using its Facebook and Instagram services, which we’ve been clear is not in line with UK law.
“People must be given meaningful transparency and choice about how their information is used. At the same time, the ICO recognises that online platforms, like every business, need to operate commercially. There are a number of ways online platforms can do this in compliance with UK law and the ICO’s guidance.
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“Under Meta’s chosen approach, people will be able to choose between consenting to personalised ads or paying a monthly subscription for an ad-free service – known as a ‘consent or pay’ model.
“During the course of our engagement with Meta, it significantly lowered the starting price point at which users would be offered a subscription. As a result, users in the UK will be able to subscribe at a price point close to half that of EU users.
“In updating its services in this way, Meta has taken steps to address its non-compliance. Meta has also responded to the ICO’s request that the price set provides UK consumers with a fair choice between consenting to targeted ads using their data or paying to subscribe to no ads.
“We now expect Meta to assess the impact of implementing this new model, specifically understanding the choices made by its users in response to the changes, to ensure Meta continues to comply with UK law.
“We will also continue to monitor the roll-out of Meta’s service changes, as well as the broader impacts of consent or pay models in online markets, to ensure consumers are empowered to make choices and are able to give their consent freely.”
Earlier this year, Meta agreed to stop targeting human rights campaigner, Tanya O’Carroll with advertising based on her personal data. O’Carroll had filed a lawsuit against the company, which was supported by the ICO, based on the UK’s GDPR rules.
