Under the plan, Meta would charge roughly 10 euros ($10.46)
a month on a desktop for a Facebook or Instagram account, and about 6 euros for
each additional linked account, the report said, citing people familiar with
the proposal.
On mobile devices, the price for a single account would jump
to roughly 13 euros because Meta would factor in commissions charged by Apple's
and Google's app stores, WSJ said.
The social media company was fined 390 million euros earlier
this year by Ireland's Data Privacy Commissioner and told it cannot use the
so-called "contract" legal basis to send users ads based on their
online activity.
Meta subsequently said it intended to ask users in the EU
for their consent before allowing businesses to target advertising in order to
address a number of evolving regulatory requirements in the region.
Meta has now told European regulators it hopes to roll out
the ad-free plan, which it calls subscription no ads (SNA), in the coming
months for users in Europe, the report said.
A Meta spokesman told the Journal that the company believes
in "free services which are supported by personalized ads" but is
exploring "options to ensure we comply with evolving regulatory
requirements."
Meta, Ireland's Data Protection Commission and the European
Commission did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside regular
business hours.
The New York Times first reported that Meta was considering
paid versions of Facebook and Instagram with no ads for users residing in the
EU, without giving details about how much they would cost.