The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) considered that Meta’s “accept or pay” model, which forces users to pay to avoid advertisements or use the platform for free by giving up data, continues to violate European legislation.
In an analysis published this Tuesday, the 17th, the organization concluded that the new model launched violates the Digital Markets Law (DMA) of the European Union (EU), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD).
“Meta continues to implement only minor adjustments, rather than solving the problem once and for all. The result is that consumers have to make a decision again that lacks clarity and does not respect the basic principles of data protection law. This is a real and fair option, not another round of confusing messages,” said BEUC director Agustín Reyna in a statement.
The new model launched in January 2026 “still does not offer consumers the possibility of giving free, specific, informed and unambiguous consent to receive or not receive personalized advertisements, which continues to be a crucial problem, given the immense amount of personal data that Meta collects from users”, warned the organization.
BEUC also considered that the way Meta designed the presentation of the options and the “use of non-neutral language” leads users to “accept the option of fully personalized ads”.
Both BEUC and other organizations have called on the European Commission to ensure that Meta quickly complies with EU legislation and, where appropriate, to impose periodic fines with the aim that Meta puts an end to these practices.
The ‘tech’ began implementing changes to the service in the EU in November 2023, which required Facebook and Instagram users to give their consent to the company’s processing of their data for advertising purposes, or to pay to not see ads.
However, the European Commission ruled this approach unlawful in April 2025, concluding that the binary model did not offer users a specific option to choose an equivalent service that used less personal data, nor did it allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to the combination of their personal data.
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