Meta Platforms is considering paid versions of Facebook and Instagram with no advertisements for users residing in the European Union as a response to scrutiny from regulators, the Recent York Times reported on Friday.
Those that pay for the subscriptions wouldn’t see ads while Meta would also proceed to offer free versions of the apps with ads in the EU, the report said, citing three individuals with knowledge of the plans.
The report added that the possible move may help Meta combat privacy concerns and other scrutiny from the EU as it will give users another to the corporate’s ad-based services, which depend on analyzing people’s data.
Meta didn’t immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The social media behemoth has been in the crosshairs of EU antitrust regulators and lost a fight in July against a 2019 German order that barred it from collecting users’ data without consent.
It’s unclear how much the paid versions of the app would cost, the NYT report said.