Zuckerberg Introduces Monthly Subscription Service for Facebook, Instagram, Gives Reasons
Social media giant Meta will introduce a subscription service for Facebook and Instagram users in Europe and Switzerland in November 1.
The subscription service will be optional for those who want to stop seeing adverts. It will not be available in Nigeria
The subscription is meant to address concerns by the European Union about Meta’s ad targeting and data collection practices.
In January, Meta was fined €390m for breaking the EU’s data rules around ads. At the time, the regulator said the firm could not “force consent” by saying consumers must accept how their data is used or leave the platforms. How the subscription service will work BBC reports that European users of the two social media platforms will be paying €9.99 (around N8,000) per month if buying a subscription on the web and €12.99 (around N10k) per month on iOS and Android. But it will only be accessible for people over 18 at first, with the firm looking into how it can serve ads to young people in the EU without breaking the rules.
Meta noted that the initial subscription covers all linked accounts in a user’s Accounts Center until March 1, 2024. However, beginning March 1, 2024, an additional fee of €6/month on the web and €8/month on iOS and Android will apply for each additional account listed in a user’s Account Center.
Free access is still available with ads In a blog post, Meta said that despite the subscription model users still have the option of continuing to its products for free, and their user experience will stay the same.
The advertisers will be able to continue running personalised advertising campaigns in Europe to reach those who choose to continue to receive Meta’s free service.
WhatsApp releases channel features for broadcast messages for organisations and businesses.
Meanwhile, in another report, WhatsApp and Instagram rolled out a broadcast-based messaging feature called Channels as it experiments with giving more conversational avenues to its users.
The company aims to monetise the feature in the future. Admins’ phone numbers will not be visible on the channels. Channels will appear on the new WhatsApp feature in a new tab called updates.