A senior executive at Meta Platforms (ticker symbol: META) said the company had decided to cut the monthly subscription fee for Facebook and Instagram from 9.99 euros down to 5.99 euros in response to concerns raised by privacy and antitrust regulators。

The decision to cut prices was based on growing criticism from privacy advocates and consumer groups about Meta's ad-free subscription service in the European region.。Critics argue that the service requires users to pay a fee to ensure privacy protection。

Meta's privacy protection service was launched in November last year to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA).。The bill limits the ability of businesses to tailor ads to users without their consent, hurting Meta's main source of revenue。

Meta said the new fee model was designed to try to balance the conflicting needs between EU privacy laws and the Digital Markets Act.。

However, Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems said the problem was not the cost of subscriptions.。He said: "We know from various studies that even just 1.Fees of 99 euros or less can also lead to a change in the user's consent ratio, from 3-10% of the original desire to see the ad to 99.9% would still agree。The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires consent to be given 'freely, "but in reality it's not about the amount, it's about the overall' pay or consent" model, which allows users to click on consent, even if it's not their free choice.。"

The hearing is intended to give Meta's users and third parties an opportunity to seek clarification on how it complies with the Digital Markets Act.。

Meta has proposed a price reduction to regulators and is in talks with data protection authorities, particularly the Irish watchdog.。