Meta Accused Of Violating EU Consumer Law With Non-Advertising Subscription Service

Meta is accused of making users pay to secure privacy. (photo:ary/voi.id)

JAKARTA - Meta Platforms' non-advertising subscription service, which was charged and launched in Europe this month, violated EU consumer law, Europe's largest consumer group said on Thursday, November 30 when it complained the company to consumer protection authorities.

A joint complaint from the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) and its 18 members to the consumer protection authority network (CPC) comes two days after the NOYB advocacy group filed a complaint with the Austrian privacy watchdog. They said Meta's new service was tantamount to paying fees to ensure privacy.

Meta referred to its blog post on October 30 when announcing the move.

"The choice for people to buy subscriptions without ads is balanced with European regulatory requirements while giving users the option and allowing Meta to continue serving everyone in the EU, EAE and Switzerland," the company wrote.

But the BEUC highlights some issues. "Meta violated EU consumer law by using unfair, deceptive, and aggressive practices, including blocking some users from using services to force them to make decisions quickly, and providing misleading and incomplete information in the process," said BEUC Deputy Director-General Ursula Pachl.

BEUC says it is likely that user data will continue to be collected and used for other purposes even if they select this new service. They also oppose "very high subscription fees for non-advertising services", which could limit users.

"With this price, consumers will only agree to Meta's profile and tracking, which exactly is what the tech giant wants. People shouldn't be asked to pay for protecting their privacy," Pachl said.

This ad-free service costs 9.99 euros (Rp160 thousand) per month for web users and 12.99 euros for iOS and Android users. Meta has said that this price is in line with Google and Spotify's YouTube premium services as well as with Netflix.