A quiet, uninterrupted scroll through your Facebook and Instagram feeds will soon be a premium feature in the UK. Meta has announced the launch of a new subscription service, fundamentally altering the “free” social media landscape by offering users the ability to pay to remove all advertisements from its platforms. This strategic pivot is a direct response to years of regulatory scrutiny over its ad-based business model.
The subscription will be available in the coming weeks with a two-tiered pricing system. Accessing the ad-free versions via a web browser will cost £2.99 per month, while using the mobile apps on iOS or Android without ads will cost £3.99 per month. For the millions of users with linked accounts, a single monthly payment will suffice to cleanse both their Facebook and Instagram feeds of sponsored content, Meta confirmed.
This change has been met with approval from the UK’s data protection authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The regulator sees the subscription as a positive step, moving Meta away from a system where personalised advertising is a non-negotiable part of using its services. This endorsement marks a victory for Meta in the UK, especially after it settled a lawsuit with an activist who challenged the company’s data collection practices under UK law.
However, Meta faces a much more hostile environment in the European Union for the same business model. The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, has already declared the subscription service a breach of its Digital Markets Act. The Commission fined Meta €200m, arguing that the choice between paying for privacy and surrendering detailed personal data is coercive and that a less data-intensive free version should be the real alternative.
This trans-channel disagreement is a clear indicator of the growing regulatory divergence between London and Brussels. Experts in UK law have described the ICO’s position as “pro-business,” aligning with the UK government’s goal to support the digital economy. It creates a distinct regulatory landscape where UK users are offered a paid solution for privacy, while the EU continues to legislate for privacy by default.
