New £3.99 charge for Facebook and Instagram users to be introduced in weeks

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced that users will soon be able to use the platforms ad-free... for a price.

In the next couple of weeks, social media users logging into their accounts in the UK will be greeted with the option to pay a monthly fee - £2.99 a month on web or £3.99 a month for iOS and Android - or continue to receive personalised ads.

The charge will come through the Meta accounts centre, meaning you'll only pay one fee if your Facebook and Instagram accounts are linked together.

Additional accounts registered to a user will incur an extra charge of £2 on web and £3 on mobile, per account.

Confirming the decision in the following statement, Meta said (via The Guardian): "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."

The move is being implemented by Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta (Getty Stock Images)

The change will apply to users over the age of 18, with those who choose not to pay the subscription fee continuing to see personalised advertising on their homepages.

The decision to introduce ad-free subscriptions comes amid previous statements made by the company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

Speaking in front of Congress back in 2018, Zuckerberg was questioned about whether or not he'd consider giving users the option to pay for their data to not be collected, to which he responded: "There will always be a version of Facebook that is free.

"'We want to offer a free service."

(Kenneth Cheung/Getty stock image)

Why is Meta introducing a charge for ad-free access?

The decision for Meta to introduce an ad-free subscription option follows increased concerns about targeted advertising from the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

In response, the company has decided to adopt the 'consent or pay' model, which gives users the option to consent to having their data collected through tracking cookies or pay to have it protected.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had previously spoken about keeping a version of Facebook which would be free to use (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

This will bring UK users into line with guidelines already implemented across the European Union, which offers people the option to pay €5.99 (£5) a month to see no ads. However, Brits will not get the option to receive less targeted advertising for no extra cost, which is available in the EU.

The announcement has been welcomed by the ICO, which said (per BBC): "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."