Meta To Offer Ad-Free Plans In The UK As TikTok Illegally Collects Child Data

The European Union (EU) has stepped up its efforts to ensure its residents are secured across digital platforms and not taken advantage of. Recently, it hit tech giant Google with a series of fines, including a mammoth $3.45 billion (€2.95 billion) fine in a historic EU ruling for anticompetitive practices.

As such, digital platforms and other businesses are becoming cautious about their offerings in the region.

Keeping to this thought, Meta announced that it would be introducing subscription plans for users in the United Kingdom to enjoy ad-free experiences on Facebook and Instagram, platforms owned by the company.

The move comes in response to recent UK regulatory guidance and extensive engagement with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The idea is to offer users in the UK the choice of using Facebook and Instagram for free with personalized advertisements or pay to avoid seeing them.

The cost for the Subscription service is set at £2.99 per month ($4.02/m) on the web or £3.99 per month ($5.37/m) on iOS and Android, for the first Meta account. For each additional account listed in a user’s Meta Account Center, a cost of £2/month ($2.69/m) on the web or £3/month ($4.04/m) on iOS and Android will be automatically applied. It will apply to all Facebook and Instagram accounts listed in their Meta Accounts Center.

IOS and Android are more expensive because of the fees that Apple and Google charge through their respective purchasing policies.

Users not availing this service will be able to use Meta’s tools and settings to control their ad experiences, which include Ad Preferences, the data used to deliver ads, and more.

The move sets the UK apart from the EU, where Meta is already engaged in similar discussions.

“We continue to believe in an ad-supported internet, which ensures free access to personalized products and services for all,” Meta said. “Personalized ads help people discover relevant, new products and services while allowing British businesses to reach the customers most likely to be interested in what they offer.”

The move follows Meta’s new translation feature in WhatsApp, which enables iPhone users to access translations in 19 languages and 6 languages for Android users. It includes English, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic, with new languages to be added soon. Meta also brought two new features to Facebook Dating—Dating Assistant (a personal guide) and Meet Cute (carefully chosen matches).

It also extended its own Llama AI to the federal government to boost US national security.

Other than this, Meta is in talks with Google Cloud to use its Gemini models to improve its ad business, as per reports. Talks are still in the early stages, and as per the cited sources, may not end in an agreement.


On the other hand, popular social media platform TikTok, which has seen its US division’s sale set at $14 billion by President Donald Trump, was accused by privacy regulators of collecting personal data from tens of thousands of children in Canada.

This came despite the app’s rules restricting usage for under 13 (under 14 in Quebec).

A joint investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec (CAI), the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC BC), and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (OIPC AB)—collectively known as “the Offices”—found TikTok had breached privacy law requirements and failed to gather meaningful consent from young and adult users.

Furthermore, the Offices noted that TikTok may have collected information relating to users’ health, political opinions, gender identity, and sexual orientation. It also found that TikTok was using biometric information, via facial and voice analytics.

“While TikTok explained that it takes steps to prevent advertisers from using certain sensitive information to target users, we noted with concern during a demonstration of TikTok’s advertising portal, the potential for advertisers to target users based on their transgender status. TikTok claimed that this was not supposed to be possible but was unable to explain how or why this option had been available,” reads an excerpt from the report.

Reportedly, TikTok deletes around 500,000 underage user accounts in Canada, yet many minors’ accounts probably remain hidden.

Do you think social media platforms should be held to higher standards and more robust scrutiny?

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