2024-03-01 18:58:33
The European Commission on Friday demanded explanations from Meta on the ad-free subscription system set up on Facebook and Instagram, accused by associations of violating EU rules on personal data.
Since November, Meta has offered European users of Facebook and Instagram the choice between continuing to use its services for free by agreeing to provide their personal data for targeted advertising purposes or paying a subscription to no longer see advertisements.
This formula is presented by the American giant as a way of complying with European rules on the processing of personal data, which have already earned it several convictions and fines.
But consumer associations filed a complaint on Thursday once morest the new subscription system, denouncing “a smokescreen intended to divert consumers’ attention from the illicit processing of their personal data”. Meta deemed these accusations “unfounded”.
Information request
The European executive announced on Friday that it had sent a request for information to the American social media giant on this subject as part of the new digital services regulation (DSA), which came into force at the end of August.
In this official letter, Meta is asked to “provide additional information on the measures taken to comply with its obligations regarding the advertising practices of Facebook and Instagram”.
Information is also requested on “recommendation systems” which promote content for users of its platforms, as well as on “risk assessments linked to the introduction of this subscription option”.
This is the first step in a procedure which might ultimately lead to heavy financial sanctions in the event of proven infringements. In extreme cases, fines might reach 6% of the global turnover of the groups involved.
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