Report: European users may soon have to pay for Facebook and Instagram

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Written on Oct 3, 2023

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European users who choose to opt out of targeted advertising will have to pay.
Meta Platforms will not replicate a similar subscription in the United States.
Shares of the tech behemoth are down roughly 2.0% on Tuesday morning.

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) is in focus today following a report that it’s considering charging for ad-free Instagram and Facebook in Europe.

Why does Meta want to charge its European users?

European users will have to pay $14 a month to use the social platforms without ads on a mobile device and an even higher $17 if they’re on a desktop.

The European Union recently moved to restrict Meta Platforms from using personal data of its users for targeted ads without their consent.

So, the tech behemoth is now considering charging those European users who choose to opt out of targeted advertising and not let it use their data, as per the Wall Street Journal.

The European Union had also named Meta Platforms one of the “gatekeepers” under its Digital Markets Act last month. Its shares are down 2.0% at writing.

Meta is calling the upcoming subscription ‘SNA’

Meta has already discussed its SNA (subscription no ads) proposal that it wants to begin rolling out later this year with several regulators in Europe.

Whether they found it sufficient, though, remains to be known, the report added.

Note that the United States doesn’t have the aforementioned privacy rules – and so this monthly subscription that CEO Mark Zuckerberg may soon introduce will apply to the European users only.

He did, however, launch Meta Verified – a paid verification programme in the U.S. earlier this year. Meta Platforms will report its Q3 results in the final week of October. Consensus is for it to earn $3.56 a share this quarter versus $1.64 per share a year ago.