Do Facebook and Instagram have the right to charge users who refuse targeted advertising? The European Commission responded in the negative, Monday 1is July: it sent Meta, the parent company of the two social networks, a preliminary notice informing it that it is not in compliance with the European Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulation. This text requires large digital platforms to obtain the consent of European users, in order to be able to cross-reference their personal data, for example for advertising purposes. Meta has complied with this since November 2023, but requires those who refuse to subscribe to a paid subscription (9.99 euros per month on the Web and 12.99 euros on the iOS or Android mobile applications) and without advertising.
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“Meta has forced millions of users across the European Union to make a binary choice: pay or consent. Our preliminary findings indicate that this is a violation.”explained the digital commissioner, Thierry Breton, on X. “We want to give citizens the ability to control their own data and choose less personalized advertising”added Margrethe Vestager, the Commissioner responsible for competition, in a press release.
The DMA aims to force large platforms to respect competition more, and the massive collection of data is seen as one of the unfair advantages that establishes the dominance of these players, preventing other players from challenging their markets. In the Commission’s mind, Meta should offer users the possibility of accessing the same service – a free social network – without cross-referencing their data to target advertising.
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“Contextual” ads
Social networks could still display advertisements, argues the Commission, but these should rather be “contextual”for example, that is, targeted according to the content displayed on the screen consulted by the Internet user. This is the more classic type of advertising used, before the advent of the Web, by newspapers or television channels, which sold advertisers spaces linked to the themes of their pages and programs.
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“Meta seems to think that in order to make money from advertising, it is justified in collecting every conceivable data on consumers’ activities, locations, personalities, behaviors, attitudes, and emotions.”denounced the European Consumers’ Union (BEUC), in February, when filing a complaint against Meta, considering that the proposed subscription also violates the general European data protection regulation.
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