You may have already seen in the news that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, are planning to launch paid subscriptions for their platforms.
The idea behind the paid subscription is to provide personalised/targeted ad free access to these platforms to those who pay to subscribe, ensuring that their data is not used for personalised advertising.
This is being brought in due to guidance by the Information Commission’s Office (ICO), the model being called ‘consent or pay’ which allows owners of platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to generate revenue from those who decline to be tracked across its services.
The ICO have stated that “This moves Meta away from targeting users with ads as part of the standard terms and conditions for using its Facebook and Instagram services, which we’ve been clear is not in line with UK law.”
This model is already used by lots of digital newspapers – having all or specific stories behind a paywall of sorts, needing users to allow ads on the page to view for free or pay a set fee.
UK subscriptions are expected to start at £2.99 per month for web users and £3.99 per month for iOS and Android app users (to take into account fees levied by Apple and Google apps).
It is worth noting that EU users already have an option for paid subscriptions and their rates are currently €5.99 (£5.20 GBP based on currency conversions 8th Oct 2025). However this higher rate when compared with the UK subscriptions is thought to be due to the fact that EU users can opt to see less personalised adverts without needing to pay for the paid subscription. The UK is not expected to have that option.
Meta is not pleased with the stance taken by the ICO and similar European regulators, stating that these regulations would create a bad experience for users and businesses within the UK and the EU. They ultimately want their service to be free, however, this does mean adverts to enable them to offer the platform for free.
What does this mean for UK users?
For UK users who don’t opt in for the paid subscription will see no changes to their experience on Instagram and Facebook as personalised/targeted ads are the norm already.
For UK users who opt in for the paid subscription will see personalised/targeted ads removed from their feed. In our opinion this doesn’t mean ad free feeds as Facebook and Instagram could still show generic ads on your feed that are not personalised or targeted to your interests and search history. We won’t know for sure until the paid for subscriptions are rolled out.
What does this mean for UK businesses?
Until this paid subscription option comes into force there is no way to definitively say what will happen and how it will impact on UK businesses who run ads on Facebook and/or Instagram.
However, it is unlikely that a majority of Facebook and/or Instagram users will opt into the paid subscription scheme. Individuals are used to the platforms being free, already see personalised ads, and are unlikely to want to pay to use the platform. Especially considering the financial burden many individuals in the UK find themselves in at the moment.
There will of course be a minority who opt in for the paid for subscription, however, those who are that concerned about being targeted by personalised ads whilst using these platforms are more likely to have already stopped using the platform or have their privacy levels set as high as they can go already.
For those businesses who are currently running ads on Facebook and/or Instagram they would be wise to monitor their adverts when these changes come into force. Making necessary adjustments to their ad spend, the ads themselves, or their target audience.
This change may put more pressure on businesses to ensure that individuals have opted to follow their page or profile on Facebook and/or Meta. Therefore ensuring that their online message continues to get out to those who are interested in what they post online without needing personalised/targeted ads to reach them.
We will be monitoring this upcoming change to Facebook and Instagram, so keep an eye on our blog section for more information.
Update 24.10.2025
You may have seen the following message when you logged in or opened up your Facebook app - 'Make a choice about your ads' with a 'Get Started' button presented to you.
Clicking on that 'Get Started' button will take you to a page stating 'Want to subscribe or continue using our Products for free with ads?' as shown below.
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You can either select 'Subscribe to use without ads' for a monthly fee. This means that your info won't be used for their ads.
Or you can select 'Use for free with ads'.
Choose whichever option you prefer and follow the steps presented to you by Meta to set up your Facebook account accordingly.
There is no right or wrong option - its a personal preference as to whether you want to see personalised ads, or would rather pay to not see ads whilst browsing Facebook.
Published: 8th Oct 2025