BRUSSELS: Facebook and Instagram users in Europe will be able to buy subscriptions to use the social networks without being tracked for targeted advertising from next month, Meta announced on Monday, to comply with tougher EU rules.

Tech titans now face a growing European Union legal arsenal, which was designed to curb how they do business online and demands better privacy protection for users.

Europe has hit Meta with huge fines over privacy and how it uses European users’ data.

From November, European users can subscribe for a fee of 9.99 euros ($10.50) a month on the web or 12.99 euros on mobile phones using iOS and Android systems, Meta said.

Subscriptions would apply to an individual’s linked Facebook and Instagram accounts. From March 1, 2024, there will be an additional fee of six euros a month for access on the web and eight on smartphones for each additional account listed.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2023