According to Silicon Republic, the European Commission has approved Meta’s new plan to offer EU users a choice for “less personalised” advertising, a move that lets the company avoid potential fines of up to 5% of its average daily global turnover. This approval comes after Meta and Apple became the first companies fined under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), collectively paying €700 million earlier this year. Meta’s specific €200 million penalty was for its non-compliant “pay or consent” model. Starting in January 2026, EU users on Facebook and Instagram will be able to choose between sharing all their data for fully personalized ads or sharing less data for a more limited ad experience. The Commission will monitor the effectiveness of this new system, which Meta began testing in late 2024.
A win for Meta, but what about users?
So, Meta gets the green light and sidesteps a financial sword of Damocles. That’s a huge win for their legal and compliance teams. But let’s be real: is this new “choice” actually a meaningful shift, or just a cleverly repackaged version of the old game? The approved model still seems to frame the issue as a binary: give us your data, or get a worse, ad-cluttered experience. It’s “consent” through attrition. The EU says it’s the first time Meta has offered this specific choice on its platforms, which tells you everything about the status quo we’ve all been living with.
The fine print and future fights
Here’s the thing—the EU isn’t just taking Meta’s word for it. They’ve said they’ll monitor the “effectiveness” through feedback and evidence. That’s regulator-speak for “we’re watching you closely.” Meta’s not fully in the clear; if this solution is deemed a sham in practice, the specter of those massive daily fines could return. And let’s not forget, this whole saga started because the “pay or consent” model was ruled illegal. This new “less personalised” tier seems like a direct, albeit grudging, response to that. It basically acknowledges that the “pay to avoid tracking” option wasn’t a real choice for most people.
A blueprint for other giants?
Now, the big question is whether this sets a template. Apple already got hit. Google is under the microscope. Meta’s negotiated settlement—a new tier of service—could become the playbook other “gatekeeper” companies try to follow when the DMA enforcers come knocking. It’s a compromise: regulators get to claim they forced a new user option, and the tech giant avoids the worst financial pain while altering its business model as little as possible. I think we’ll see more of this dance. Companies will propose the minimal viable compliance, and the EU will have to constantly judge whether it’s sufficient. It’s a fragile, ongoing negotiation, not a one-time fix.
Ultimately, this feels like a tactical retreat by Meta, not a surrender. They’ve bought themselves operational certainty in Europe for now. But the fundamental tension isn’t going away. The EU wants to break the “all or nothing” data paradigm, and Meta’s entire empire is built on harvesting that data. This new ad choice is just the latest battlefield in that much larger war.
