Enlarge image
Facebook and Meta logos: the company has suffered a defeat
Photo: DADO RUVIC / REUTERS
The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court decided on Wednesday: The social media group Meta must improve its ad-free but paid offering for Facebook and Instagram. The North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center has obtained an interim injunction because users were not sufficiently informed about their obligation to pay.
Meta only introduced the ad-free subscriptions after another legal defeat. The European Court of Justice ruled in July that the group had not sufficiently asked for the consent of users on its social media platforms in order to be able to create advertising profiles, which form the basis for the group's billions in revenue. Meta's solution: The company gives members the opportunity to object to data processing, but they have to pay 10 euros or 13 euros per month. If you choose neither of the two options, you will no longer be able to log in.
Obligation to pay only after clear information
However, according to the Higher Regional Court, the company violated consumer protection laws during implementation. With its design of the order buttons, Meta did not make it sufficiently clear when a paid contract would be concluded. On its websites, the group asks interested parties to “subscribe,” while on its smartphone apps it simply says “continue payment.” The plaintiff consumer advocates insisted on even clearer wording such as “order with obligation to pay”.
The judgment of the Higher Regional Court is already legally binding. However, Meta emphasized to SPIEGEL that it was only a small matter: the ruling only concerns "very specific aspects of German consumer law." In addition, there is optimism that an improved offer will comply with European regulations. However, this is currently controversial.
Consumer advocates want money back
First, the consumer protection center wants to file a so-called “remedial lawsuit” against Meta so that paying subscribers who are represented by the consumer protection center can demand their money back. But this is only the first step in the fight for the controversial ad-free subscription.
Consumer advocates and data protection advocates doubt that Meta can justify all data processing with its ad-free subscription if users decide against the paid offer. Organizations such as the Austrian association NOYB assume that the price was set far too high in order to force users to release data.
At the same time, there are doubts as to whether consumers can even understand the large number of data transfers in the online advertising market, which would be necessary for legally required “informed consent”. Here too, the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center has taken the first legal steps against the US group. He, in turn, points out that many other Internet offerings have now also introduced an ad-free subscription.
tmk