Meta Platforms accuses the regulators of the European Union to move the goal posts and unfairly targets its business model under the law on digital markets (DMA), in what quickly becomes a confrontation with high issues on data confidentiality, the digital guardian and advertising power.
On Friday, in a press release, the American technology giant said that the European Commission applied the DMA unevenly, by discriminating the “Pay-Or-Consent” model of Meta, which offers users a choice between the use of Facebook and Instagram for free with personalized advertisements, or paying to withdraw advertisements. Meta said he went “far beyond” the DMA compliance requirements and that she had made many changes in good faith after current consultations.
“We are convinced that the range of choices we offer to people in the EU does not comply with what EU rules require-that goes far beyond,” said a spokesperson for Meta.
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But EU regulators do not agree. On June 25, the European Commission said that the META model may not provide a “real alternative” to users and warned the company to expect executive measures, unless it is making substantial changes.
Reagoument in progress: fines, probes and a narrowed window for compliance
Meta’s examination by the Commission is not new, but it quickly intensified under the law on historical digital markets, which officially entered into force in March 2024 to slow down the domination of “guardian” technological societies.
In April 2025, the EU inflicted a fine on 200 million euros on its existing pay or consent model, claiming that it had violated the requirement of the DMA for user consent to be given freely, specific, informed and unambiguous. The regulators argued that by linking access to the platform to complete follow-up or payment, Meta did not offer a real alternative, in particular economically disadvantaged users.
This fine came next to a joint application of 700 million euros wider against Meta and Apple, which makes it the first major repression of the DMA. The decision followed the surveys launched in March 2024, which also focused on the management of Meta data on services like Facebook Marketplace, where the company was accused of self-reflection and unjust regrouping.
In November 2024, Meta was sentenced to a fine of 798 million euros on anti -competitive driving linked to the Facebook market. The European Commission noted that META used advertising data from its competitors to promote its own services and integrate the market on Facebook in a way that has distorted competition.
Meta’s counter-argument: Double regulatory standards?
In his latest decline, Meta accuses the EU of selectively applying its rules and of treating it differently from other companies which also offer users supported by advertising or subscription.
“A choice of users between a subscription for a NO -ADS service or a free advertising service remains a legitimate commercial model for each company in Europe – except Meta,” said the company, which implies that it is held at a higher level.
Meta also argues that regulators effectively rewrite the compliance requirements afterwards. According to internal sources cited by Reuters and AP, Meta is frustrated that its recent revisions of the consent model – offering new personalization parameters, simplified interfaces and regional prices – have not been deemed sufficient by EU surveillance dogs.
The Commission, on the other hand, is categorical that Meta must offer an un followed version of its services without demanding that users pay, in order to meet the “freely given DMA” requirement.
The Business Stakes: Return and Reach at risk
Meta’s activities in Europe are at stake. Advertising is the heart of its income model and a significant percentage of it comes from targeting users on the detailed behavioral data. Any return to this capacity – whether by opt -out or subscription absorption – clear to strike its results.
More importantly, if the EU judge Meta non -compliant, the Commission can impose daily fines of up to 5% of world daily turnover. Meta 2024 world revenues exceeding $ 130 billion, these penalties could exceed $ 17 million a day. This threat becomes active by June 27, 2025, if the Meta model is still in violation.
The test of strength does not only concern meta. The DMA represents the most ambitious EU effort to limit the power of dominant digital platforms and restore competition on technological markets. Meta, Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft are all designated as “goalkeepers” and their platforms – from application stores to messaging services – are now subject to stricter rules.
The EU points out that it will not tolerate superficial compliance by making an example of a meta from the start. The regulators require not only the conformity of the check box, but a real remodeling of commercial models which historically prospered on the monetization of opaque data.
The latest EU movements are also based on years of control. In 2022, META was sentenced to a fine of 390 million euros by the Irish data protection commission under the GDPR for having forced users to collect data via its conditions of use. The same year, the company’s advertising targeting model was challenged by consumer groups in several EU member states.
What happens next?
Meta should officially call on the committee’s conclusions and possibly revise its payroll or consent framework. But it can be confronted with additional probes linked to the interoperability of Messenger and Instagram with rival messaging applications, another DMA requirement that remains in progress.
The result of this battle will probably set the tone to the way Brussels aggressively applies the DMA – and if the long -standing monetization models of Big Tech can survive in the future where user rights and privacy are increasingly protected by law.
