Meta users in the UK will soon be offered the option of an ad-free Instagram and Facebook, with the platforms rolling out advert-free versions of the social networks for up to £3.99 a month.
The launch is Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s response to regulatory warnings surrounding the use of user data to create personalised and targeted ads.
Web-based users will be charged £2.99 per month to access an ad-free version of the platform, while mobile users will be charged £3.99 per month. If Instagram and Facebook accounts are linked, users will only be required to pay one monthly fee.
In a statement, Meta said that this will “give people based in the UK the choice between continuing to use Facebook and Instagram for free with personalised ads, or subscribing to stop seeing ads”.
The service will be rolled out over the coming weeks, with users who don’t take up the subscription still seeing ads as usual.
The offering is not too dissimilar from a service offered by the company in the European Union, where users are charged up to €12.99 per month for ad-free versions of the social networks.
B&T understands that the update is currently confined to the UK. B&T contacted Meta in Australia to determine if the rollout was part of a broader trial that would encompass the country, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the UK, which has previously said that internet users should have the option to “opt out” from data being used in targeted advertising, has welcomed the move.
“This moves Meta away from targeting users with ads as part of the standard terms and conditions for using its Facebook and Instagram services, which we’ve been clear is not in line with UK law,” said an ICO spokesperson.
