A new, fundamental choice is coming for all Facebook and Instagram users in the UK: either explicitly allow Meta to continue using your data to serve you personalised ads, or pay a monthly fee to stop it. This binary choice is at the heart of Meta’s new subscription service, launched to comply with UK data protection laws.
The fee for choosing privacy over data processing is set at £2.99 per month for web users and £3.99 per month for mobile users. This payment will remove ads from linked accounts, offering a cleaner experience. Those who choose not to pay will continue on the free path, which Meta now frames as an active choice to accept the ad-supported model.
This framework is the result of prolonged engagement with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has now given its approval. The ICO stated that this model aligns with UK law because it provides a clear choice, unlike the previous terms of service where ad targeting was mandatory and unavoidable.
This interpretation of “choice” is not shared by the European Union. There, regulators fined Meta €200m, deeming the exact same choice to be coercive and a violation of the Digital Markets Act. The EU argues that true choice requires a free option that also respects user privacy by default.
The UK’s regulatory stance, described by legal experts as “pro-business,” allows this model to proceed. It formalises the trade-off that has always existed on social media, but now it is an explicit, monthly decision. UK users must now consciously decide which currency—their data or their money—they wish to use to pay for their social feed.