Meta has committed to introduce new advertising options for users in the European Union (EU) on Facebook and Instagram to address requirements set by the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The European Commission (EC) acknowledged Meta’s undertaking, which involves offering users a choice between consenting to fully personalised advertising by sharing all their data.

Alternatively, users can opt to share less personal information for a service with more limited personalisation.

Meta will begin presenting these choices to EU users in January 2026.

This development follows a decision by the EC in April 2025 that found Meta in breach of the DMA’s obligation to give consumers access to an alternative service using less personal data.

In response, the EC fined Meta €200m ($320m). Apple was also fined €500m after the EC determined that it breached its anti-steering obligations under the DMA.

These rules require app developers to be able to inform customers about alternative offers outside of Apple’s App Store and allow them to make purchases through those channels.

The EC concluded that Apple imposed several restrictions that prevented both app developers and consumers from fully benefiting from these alternatives and ordered Apple to remove such restrictions.

Meta previously offered EU users a ‘Consent or Pay’ model from November 2023, where individuals could either agree to personalised advertising or pay for an ad-free experience.

The EC found that this binary approach did not meet DMA rules because it did not give users an option for a less data-intensive service equivalent to the personalised ads service.

In November 2024, Meta introduced another version of its ad model that claims to use less personal data. The Commission reviewed this update and sought evidence from Meta regarding its impact.

In its April 2025 decision, the EC also announced that Facebook Marketplace would no longer be designated under the DMA due to a reduction in business user numbers below the relevant threshold.

This followed an application from Meta and an assessment of additional enforcement actions taken by the social technology company.

The DMA, which has been in force since November 2022, sets out clear, objective criteria for identifying “gatekeepers”, large digital platforms that provide so‑called core platform services, such as online search engines, app stores, and messaging services.

These gatekeepers must comply with the obligations and prohibitions laid down in the DMA.