What happens if you don't pay new £3.99 charge for Facebook and Instagram explained

This is what will happen to Brits who decide against paying £3.99 a month for a subscription to Facebook and Instagram without ads.

Earlier today, it was revealed that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, would be rolling out a scheme which allowed users to purchase a monthly subscription to use its social media platforms without the inclusion of personalised adverts.

The move follows increasing concerns about the ethics of targeted advertising, which is where personalised adverts are shown to people based on websites they visit - allowing people the option to opt out of having their data used for marketing purposes.

"This will give people based in the UK the choice between continuing to use Facebook and Instagram for free with personalised ads, or subscribing to stop seeing ads," a statement from Meta read (via The Guardian).

The change is coming to Facebook and Instagram, which is owned by Meta (Getty Stock Images)

When is Meta rolling out the new charge?

In the coming weeks, users of Facebook and Instagram in the UK will receive the option to pay a monthly fee - £2.99 a month on web or £3.99 a month for iOS and Android - to browse their timelines without receiving adverts for shoes they were considering buying the night before.

The decision has been welcomed by privacy groups such as the UK's Information Commissioner's Office, which said: "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."

What happens to people who decide against paying for the ad-free experience?

Essentially, nothing will change about your social media experience if you decide against opting out of the subscription, as targeted ads are currently the norm for everyone signed up to these platforms.

Which means that you're doomscrolling sessions will be unaffected.

However, this does mean companies will be allowed to continue collecting and storing your data – and then marketing it back to you in the form of buyable products or services.

Users who pay the subscription fee will be able to use Facebook and Instagram free of charge (Getty Stock Images)

What is targeted advertising?

Whenever you open a website online, one of the first things which will pop up is a notice asking you whether you want to accept or decline cookies in your browser.

Cookies are a tool which allows websites to remember you by storing your information, logins and browser history online (via Kaspersky). Which, of course, can be a lifesaver when it comes to remembering username and password details.

However, cookies are also essential to targeted advertising. Say you spend the evening looking at flights to Mallorca, this information will then be stored by cookies and analysed for marketing purposes.

Open up Facebook on a web browser the next day and you may very well find adverts showing you the best deals for the Balearic Island.

For those who don't choose to pay for the subscription, they will continue to receive targeted adverts (Getty Stock Images)

Targeted advertising can also follow you across devices, usually via your social media accounts, meaning the same ads will also start popping up on your phone.

There are also concerns about the security around targeted advertising, with VPN company SurfShark highlighting how details such as your name, age, gender and browsing history can be put at risk.