On Monday, 1 July 2024, the European Commission published its preliminary findings that Meta has violated the Digital Markets Act (DMA) with its tiered Consent or Pay business model. The Commission is of the view that the binary choice Meta offers forces users to accept its terms and that it lacks an equivalent option with less personalisation.
The Commission stated that under Article 5(2) of the DMA, "gatekeepers must seek users' consent for combining their personal data between designated core platform services and other services, and if a user refuses such consent, they should have access to a less personalised but equivalent alternative. Gatekeepers cannot make use of the service or certain functionalities conditional on users' consent."
The preliminary findings are without prejudice to the outcome of the investigation launched by the Commission in March 2023, which is due to conclude within 12 months from the start date.
Meta now has the right to respond in writing to the Commission's preliminary findings and examine the documents related to the investigation.
Additional commentary in the Financial Times (£) and The Guardian.
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