Meta accused of breaching EU antitrust rules over ad-supported subscription service

- Meta, the parent company of Facebook, accused by EU regulators of failing to comply with antitrust rules over ad-supported social networking service - Introduced ad-supported subscription option called "pay or consent" in Europe last year for Facebook and Instagram - Users must pay for ad-free experience or consent to data being processed for personalized advertising - Regulators believe the binary choice forces users to consent to data combination without providing an equivalent less personalised version - Meta claims new model follows European Court of Justice ruling and complies with the DMA - Meta, parent company of Facebook, accused by EU regulators of breaching antitrust rules over ad-supported subscription service - Users must either pay to use ad-free platforms or consent to data processing for personalized advertising - Meta could face fines as high as $13.4 billion if found guilty in final findings - Meta introduced the service in response to EU Court of Justice ruling - EU Digital Markets Act aims to clamp down on anti-competitive practices from digital companies - Meta has a chance to defend itself in writing after receiving preliminary findings - Investigation will conclude within 12 months - Tech stocks, including Meta, down more than 30% this year due to broader selloff and weaker-than-expected results.