Meta just caved to European regulators, announcing that Facebook and Instagram users in the EU will finally get to choose between full data sharing for personalized ads or limited data collection for less targeted advertising. The move comes after the company paid a hefty €266 million fine and represents the first time Meta's offered such privacy controls on its social networks.
Meta is finally giving European users what regulators have been demanding - real choice over their advertising experience. Starting January 2026, Facebook and Instagram users across the EU will be able to opt for limited data collection in exchange for less personalized ads, according to the European Commission's announcement.
The shift marks a dramatic departure from Meta's previous all-or-nothing approach. "Meta will give users the effective choice between: consenting to share all their data and seeing fully personalised advertising, and opting to share less personal data for an experience with more limited personalised advertising," the EU Commission stated. It's the first time such controls have appeared on Meta's social networks.
This wasn't exactly Meta's idea. The company got hit with a €266 million fine back in April for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA) with its controversial "consent or pay" model. That system forced users into a binary choice - either pay a monthly subscription to avoid ads entirely, or surrender all their personal data for ad targeting. European regulators called it a violation of user choice requirements under the DMA.
The timing couldn't be more telling. Meta's revenue engine runs on hyper-targeted advertising powered by vast data collection across its 3 billion global users. Any limitation on data harvesting directly threatens the precision targeting that commands premium ad rates. But with EU regulators breathing down their necks and other tech giants facing similar scrutiny, Meta had little choice but to comply.
European officials aren't just taking Meta's word for it. The Commission plans to closely monitor user adoption rates and assess the real-world impact once the new model rolls out. This suggests regulators remain skeptical about whether Meta will genuinely make the privacy-focused option appealing to users or bury it in confusing interface design.
The announcement comes as part of what the EU describes as "close dialogue" between Brussels and Menlo Park. Translation: months of behind-the-scenes negotiations where regulators made clear that Meta's current approach wasn't going to fly under the DMA's consumer choice requirements.
