Despite EU Opposition, Meta Pushes Ahead with “Pay or Consent” Model

Since mid-July 2025, Meta has been enforcing a “pay or consent” model across Europe, requiring users of Facebook and Instagram to either subscribe to an ad-free, paid version of the platforms or agree to data-driven advertising. Users who do not make a choice are now denied access to the services — a move that deepens Meta’s ongoing clash with the European Union.

The company first introduced this model in November 2023, aiming to bypass restrictions imposed by the GDPR and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The Austrian privacy advocacy group Noyb immediately filed a complaint, accusing Meta of violating EU law.

On July 1, 2024, the European Commission ruled that Meta’s approach breached the DMA by failing to offer users a fair and genuine choice. It fined the company 200 million euros and gave it until March 2025 to implement compliant changes.

Meta made only limited adjustments to the types of data collected, which the Commission deemed insufficient. On June 27, 2025, the Commission issued a formal warning, threatening further penalties of up to 5% of Meta’s global turnover. In early July, the tech giant filed an appeal with the EU General Court, arguing that the 200-million-euro fine was “unlawful.”