Meta to Give EU Users Choice on Facebook and Instagram Ads

The European Commission announced that Meta will present European Union users with a real choice over advertising personalization on Facebook and Instagram, a measure intended to secure compliance with the EU Digital Markets Act. Beginning in January, EU users will be able to choose full personalization that relies on consenting to the use of their data, or a less data intensive alternative that offers more limited ad personalization.

The commitment follows a €200 million fine levied against Meta earlier in 2025 for noncompliance with DMA obligations and a string of warnings from regulators that daily penalties could follow continued breaches. The Commission framed the agreement as a corrective step to ensure dominant platforms meet the DMA requirement to give end users meaningful options about how their data is used for commercial purposes.

Regulators and legal experts have scrutinized Meta for what critics call a pay or consent model, in which users face a choice between consenting to data processing for personalization or paying for services. Under the DMA, gatekeepers must not leverage their market power to force users into unfair choices. The Commission said Meta will adapt its ad personalization practices so that consent is a genuine option rather than a conditioned requirement for access to the platforms.

For users the change promises clearer control and a potentially lower privacy risk profile when they opt for the less data intensive setting. For advertisers and marketers the shift could reduce the precision of targeting within the EU, complicating campaign strategies that have long relied on detailed behavioral data. Analysts say that even limited personalization can still support relevant ads, but the value of certain audience segments could be diminished, with knock on effects for ad pricing and measurement.

Technically, implementing two distinct experiences will require changes to user interface design, consent flows, and backend data processing systems. Meta will need to ensure that the less data intensive option is genuinely less invasive in practice and not a cosmetic alternative that still channels large volumes of user information into ad decisioning systems. The Commission will monitor the rollout to verify compliance and guard against circumvention.

The settlement underscores the growing willingness of European regulators to enforce the Digital Markets Act against large U.S. tech companies. It also sets a precedent for how regulators expect gatekeepers to reconcile business models built on personalized advertising with new rules that prioritize user choice and contestability. Meta faces further scrutiny across Europe on a range of issues from competition to privacy, and the company will be watching how advertisers and users react to the dual option approach.

This development marks the latest high profile regulatory intervention aimed at reshaping how major technology platforms operate in Europe, and it signals that companies will increasingly have to balance personalization driven revenue with legal obligations to protect user autonomy.