Meta is reportedly exploring plans to introduce ad-free subscription plans on Facebook and Instagram if users don’t agree to let the company use their data to provide personalised ads.

Sources told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) the subscription plans being considered are a monthly fee of around €10 for a desktop Facebook or Instagram account or €14 for accounts on mobile devices due to commissions charged by Apple and Google's app stores.

It is understood that Meta’s ad-free plan service would be called subscription no ads (SNA) and give users a choice between continuing to access Facebook or Instagram free of charge with personalised adverts or pay for ad-free versions.

News of the potential plans follows a recent ruling by the EU high court in Luxembourg that under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) act, Facebook could not use personal details to target users with personalised ads.

The reported plans are thought to be in response to the European Union’s Digital Services Act, a set of new ad privacy rules which mandates that users must be able to opt out of personalised ad recommendations.

The new act comes into force from 1 January 2024, yet it is currently unclear whether EU regulators will deem the new plan as being compliant with EU law.

Earlier this year Meta was hit with a record €1.2 billion fine by the Irish Data Protection Commission's fine after the social media giant failed to take note of a top EU court’s warnings around protecting users’ data from US security services.

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