Mark Zuckerberg in trouble: Meta charged with failing to follow EU tech rules

Posted by Admin July 1, 2024 Tech

Meta Platforms was charged by EU antitrust regulators for failing to comply with landmark tech rules as they took aim at its newly introduced pay or consent advertising model. EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement, “We want to empower citizens to be able to take control over their own data and choose a less personalised ads experience.”

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.(Reuters)

The US tech giant launched no-ads subscription service for Facebook and Instagram in Europe last November. At the time, Meta said that users who consent to be tracked get a free service which is funded by advertising revenues.

The European Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, said that the binary choice which Meta gave breaches the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) which is aimed at reining in Big Tech. The European Commission sent its preliminary finding to Meta and said that the binary choice forces users to consent to the combination of their personal data. The Commission also pointed out failure of the company in providing users with a less personalised but equivalent version of Meta’s social networks.

The EU watchdog had earlier issued its first DMA charge against Apple for not complying with the new rule.