Facebook and Instagram begin charging €12.99 per month for ad-free feeds, with price hike due in March

Under the new system, it will cost €12.99 per month for all accounts until March of next year, when it will rise to €12.99 for one account and €8 for every subsequent account.

It means that someone with a Facebook and an Instagram account will pay €20.99 per month, or €251.88 per year.

In exchange for paying the subscription, users will not see any ads on their feeds. A free version will remain available, but users will have to give their consent to Facebook and Instagram to use their personal data as a basis for showing them ads.

The ad-free subscription does not include a ban on ad-supported content from influencers, however.

A cheaper tariff can be accessed for €9.99 per month, and €6 per month for additional accounts, if the signup process is done on the web, rather than within the smartphone app. The difference in the price is accounted for by the 30pc charge that Apple and Google place on subscriptions enacted within apps downloaded from their App Stores. However, once a subscription is taken, access is available on any device.

The system is being introduced after European regulatory authorities, including the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, European Court of Justice and the European Data Protection Board, all ruled that Facebook and Instagram could no longer continue to rely on users’ personal data for ads without more explicit consent. In response, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is offering either explicit consent for ads based on personal data or a paid monthly subscription.

The system is specific to Europe, where data laws are stricter than in the US and other regions.

To avoid paying the subscription fee, Facebook and Instagram users must consent to the company’s use of their personal information as the basis of the day they see.