Facebook and Instagram may offer paid, ad-free plans in Europe to sate EU privacy concerns

Among other recent penalties, the EU fined Meta €1.2 billion in May for moving EU citizens’ data to US-based servers.

Meta may add a paid subscription option to Instagram and Facebook in Europe, according to The New York Times. The ad-free tier is meant to address European Union (EU) regulations that have diminished some of Meta’s most lucrative data-collection methods. The company said in April that advertising in the EU made up 10 percent of the company’s total revenue.

The move would be the first time Meta has deviated from its standard model of a single free platform supported by advertising (and associated data collection). The NYT says the company would continue offering free ad-supported versions of Facebook and Instagram in the EU. It’s unknown exactly when the company would launch the ad-free tiers or how much they would cost.