Facebook and Instagram users will have to pay monthly fee for ad-free access

Meta is offering Instagram and Facebook users the opportunity to pay a monthly subscription to not see advertisements.

A day before Halloween and Meta is offering its very own take on trick or treat.

The treat? You won't have to see any adverts while using Instagram and Facebook. The trick? You have to pay for the luxury, of course.

Now, before you start panicking, it is a choice.

The new monthly subscription fee is to 'comply with evolving European regulations'.

"We made that change to address a number of evolving and emerging regulatory requirements in the region," Meta explained.

"This includes how our lead data protection regulator in the EU, the Irish Data Protection Commission, is interpreting GDPR following a recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and anticipating the entry into force of the Digital Markets Act (DMA)."

Instagram and Facebook users in the EU, the EEA and Switzerland will subsequently be offered the option to pay a fee to go ad-free.

Getty Images/ Matt Cardy

And the cost - 'depending on where you purchase' - will amount to €9.99 per month on the web or €12.99-a-month on iOS and Android.

This subscription price does apply to all linked Facebook and Instagram accounts, though – rather than just the one app.

Meta adds: "Until March 1, 2024, the initial subscription covers all linked accounts in a user’s Accounts Center. However, beginning March 1, 2024, an additional fee of €6/month on the web and €8/month on iOS and Android will apply for each additional account listed in a user’s Account Center."

If you sign up to pay for the subscription service, Meta says your information 'will not be used for ads' either.

Getty Images/ Niharika Kulkarni/ NurPhoto

So, why now? Well, Meta explains it believes in 'a free, ad-supported internet' and will 'continue to offer people free access to [its] personalised products and services regardless of income'.

If you continue using Instagram and Facebook for free, 'your experience will stay the same,' it reassures.

Meta's update resolves: "Whether people choose to use our products for free with ads or subscribe to stop seeing ads, we are committed to keeping people’s information private and secure, under our own policies as well as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)."