This Monday, the European Union accused Meta (Facebook, Instagram) of violating digital privacy laws with its payment model for keeping user data private.

"Meta has forced millions of users across the EU into a binary choice: pay or consent [to the use of their data]. In our preliminary conclusion, this is a breach of the DMA," said European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton on X.

Meta's compliance with digital platform regulations requires users to either pay a monthly fee or accept the commercialization of their data for personalized advertisements. 

In a statement, the European Commission stated "this choice forces users to consent to the combination of their personal data and fails to provide them a less personalized but equivalent version of Meta's social networks."

As of now, Meta will have time to respond to the Commission.

However, if the Commission upholds its stance on the model, it may impose a fine of up to 10% of Meta's global revenue.

The legislation empowers the Commission to increase the fine to 20% of global revenue in cases of repeated violations or even mandate the company to break up. 

The Digital Markets Law (DML) is one of the EU's pillars for regulating the sector, alongside the Digital Services Law.

Under these two laws, the Commission determined that the largest platforms, which it calls "gatekeepers," cannot force users to consent to data usage in order to access network services or features.

The Commission will decide whether Meta's model is compatible wiith DML by the end of March 2025.