Meta to Offer Ad-Free Subscription to Facebook and Instagram in UK

Meta plans to offer people in the United Kingdom the option to pay to gain an ad-free experience on its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram.

The company will roll out the offering in the coming weeks, offering subscriptions for 2.99 pounds (about $4) per month on the web and 3.99 pounds on iOS and Android, it said in a Friday (Sept. 26) press release. Meta said the higher cost for iOS and Android covers fees charged by Apple and Google.

Meta will continue to offer free access to Facebook and Instagram, with ads, and will still allow these users to control their ad experience with the tools that are currently available, such as Ad Preferences, according to the release.

Meta added the paid, ad-free option after “extensive engagement” with the U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office and to address the ICO’s regulatory guidance on consent or pay business models, per the release.

“Subscriptions, as an alternative to seeing personalized advertising, is a well-established and economically viable business model spanning many industries, from news publishing and gaming to music and entertainment,” the release said. “Having discussed with the ICO, Meta will offer Subscription for no ads at a price that is one of the lowest in the market.”

In a Friday statement on the changes to Meta’s advertising model, an ICO spokesperson said the regulator welcomed the company’s shift to this consent or pay model and its move away from targeting Facebook and Instagram users with ads as part of the platforms’ standard terms and conditions, which the regulator said violates U.K. law.

“People must be given meaningful transparency and choice about how their information is used,” the ICO’s statement said. “At the same time, the ICO recognizes that online platforms, like every business, need to operate commercially. There are a number of ways online platforms can do this in compliance with U.K. law and the ICO’s guidance.”

Meta also offers a consent or pay model in the European Union but has been engaged in a continuing battle with the European Commission over that model. The commission said the model needs more work to bring it into compliance with the antitrust provisions of the EU’s Digital Markets Act.

In its Friday press release, Meta said the EU’s approach is different from the “constructive” one taken by the U.K.’s ICO.

“EU regulators continue to overreach by requiring us to provide a less personalized ads experience that goes beyond what the law requires, creating a worse experience for users and businesses,” the release said. “In contrast, the U.K.’s more pro-growth and pro-innovation regulatory environment allows for a clearer choice for users, while ensuring our personalized advertising tools can continue to be engines of growth and productivity for companies up and down the country.”