European Union: Announced European Commission investigation into Meta's "pay or consent model" compliance with Digital Markets Act

On 25 March 2024, the European Commission opened an investigation into Meta's "pay or consent model" compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The investigation concerns Meta’s compliance with Article 5(2) of the DMA, which states that in order to combine or cross-use the personal data of users across different core platform services, the gatekeeper must obtain consent from this user. The Commission will investigate whether the pay option provides a real alternative for the user to not consent to the accumulation of its personal data, thereby limiting the collection of personal data by gatekeepers. The Commission aims to conclude the investigation within 12 months.