WSJ: Instagram and Facebook subscriptions without ads will cost up to 13 euros per month

Meta wants to charge up to 13 euros per month for its upcoming ad-free subscriptions for Instagram and Facebook. The Wall Street Journal reports this. Rumors have been going around for some time about the arrival of such subscriptions, specifically for European users.

Meta recently shared its plans for ad-free Instagram and Facebook subscriptions with European privacy regulators, writes The Wall Street Journal. The tech giant wants to charge users via desktop ten euros per month for a subscription to Instagram or Facebook. Additional accounts can be added for an additional six euros per month. Users who take out a subscription via their smartphone must pay thirteen euros per month because of the commissions that Apple and Google charge in their app stores, the WSJ writes.

The tech giant is said to be planning to make these subscriptions available to European users ‘in the coming months’, although the exact date is not yet known. Users within the EU will therefore have the choice to use the services for free with personalized advertisements, or to pay for versions of the services without advertisements.

Meta is working on ad-free versions of its services due to stricter scrutiny by European regulators. European privacy regulators have been stating for years that Meta must request permission to collect data for personalized advertisements. Until recently Meta refused that; the company relied on other GDPR principles. Earlier this year, the company changed tack and will still ask permission for such advertisements.

It is not known whether regulators will agree to the company’s plans for paid subscriptions, or whether they will also require cheaper or free versions of Instagram and Facebook without personalized ads.

The New York Times reported last month that Meta is considering ad-free subscriptions for its services in Europe. These subscriptions are therefore not expected to be available in the United States, The Wall Street Journal also wrote on Tuesday.