*EDIT* Price quoted was incorrect and the BBC have released an article touching on this aswell!
Whilst the BBC says they are considering charging, they seem oblivious to the legal issues surrounding the new fashionable consent and pay which is everywhere now. I expect a legal challenge to these methods of basically exchanging your privacy and data for continued free access!
I have been saying this for a very very long time and it appears that the time might be coming for the UK to get Facebook subscriptions for no adverts after a significant legal ruling last week. After Meta and Facebook was ruled that it MUST allow UK residents under GPDR and the DSA to opt out of targeted ads completely it seems like only a matter of time that it will be ruled that Facebook as it is with ads in the UK is illegal. The only way I can see Facebook getting round this is to make it an option to have an ad free Facebook – something that IS available in parts of Europe for a fee (currently around €5.99 a month) per account with some discounts for families etc. Now obviously the take up of this has been limited to say the least but as I understand it it is looking like Facebook is going to have to ask EVERY UK user if they want to have this subscription service or no free Facebook as that is deemed illegal – so basically making the UK the only country that Facebook won’t be free any longer. I can’t see how this will be resolved, I mean it may take a while, years in fact, but unless Facebook appeals and wins, which I am reliably informed is unlikely, then it will be the end of free accounts in the UK. I have made this point for years, that Facebooks practices do not align with the UK on things like privacy and advertising, and unless they make some UK centric Facebook, which is pretty pointless, then it will see the end of free accounts. We all know that free accounts aren’t really free as you pay with your privacy especially around advertising and the selling of your data, plus the inherent poor security that Facebook is all about all adds up to users need to think long and hard if they continue to use the platform. I can say with my hand on my heart that a good 80% of the security issues I have experienced in the last 5 years have been through Facebook and Meta products – and I am well versed in how to deal with these things!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0kglle0p3vo
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