Meta has announced the global rollout of subscription plans for FacebookInstagramand WhatsApp. The company also revealed that new plans aimed at Meta AI userscreatorsand businesses are coming soon.

The Facebook Plus and Instagram Plus subscription plans are priced at $3.99 per monthwhile WhatsApp Plus costs $2.99 per month. Meta clarified that these Plus subscriptions will exist alongside Meta Verified and will not replace it.

FacebookInstagramand WhatsApp now offer subscription plans
Facebook Plus and Instagram Plus subscribers will gain access to several exclusive featuresincluding advanced Story insights such as rewatch countsthe ability to create unlimited audience lists beyond the existing Close Friends optionand the option to extend Stories beyond the standard 24-hour limit.

Subscribers will also be able to preview Stories before postingsearch through Story viewer listsand publish posts directly to their profile without them appearing in followers’ feeds. Other additions include Super Heart animated reactions for Storiescustom app iconscustom fonts for profile biosand support for additional profile pins.

MeanwhileWhatsApp Plus will introduce features such as custom ringtonesnew app themessupport for more pinned chatsadditional sticker packsand enhanced list customization options.

Source: https://www.gsmarena.com/facebook_instagram...-news-73020.php

S

More migrations to Telegram... oh wai...

ok la just like dlc as long as those basic functions are not limited/removed

basic functionalities are still free.... you subscribe for extra features.

They can't afford to lose users & ppl migrating to other messengers. Losing users means lesser datadetails & content harvesting. Bad for their business..

many people cant even stand for those 5 secs - 15 secs occasional ad in yewtiub

Whole bunch of features that I don't want. Good luck Metarofl.

After years of free servicesnow start dah harvest time.

Normal Whatsapp is enough for meno need extra fancy features

Study: Tech giants earn up to £194,000 from data of each UK user
Monday25 May 2026 | 2:30 PM MYT


LONDON: Big technology and artificial intelligence (AI) firms earn up to £194,000 (US$261,000/RM1.03mil) from using the data of each UK internet user over their lifetimeaccording to new analysis.

Some of the world's biggest and most powerful companies collect and monetise personal data to power the internetWeb3 Foundation found in a report.

The study looked at a vast range of ways that people leave a digital footprintfrom search queriesclicks and location signalsthrough to online purchasesmessagesuploaded images and social media posts.

Typicallythis information has been collected through technology like cookies and used to help companies create targeted adverts.

But the research found that people's data is increasingly being collectedaggregated and analysed for newer forms of monetisation like building AI systems and training models.

It estimates that each UK and European internet user contributes up to £194,000 (RM1.03mil) in inflation-linked commercial value over their digital lifetimes.

Rather than pointing to a specific amount of money that people contributethe modelling aims to demonstrate the scale at which the internet is powered by people's dataaccording to the report.

Bill Laboonvice president of technical operations for Web3 Foundationtold the Press Association: "People should be aware that their data is being used and monetised by all kinds of other entities.

"It's a privacy issue. Likely people do not understand or realise that whenever they're asking a question on ChatGPTwhen they are selecting a spell check correction ... that's being used."

He said targeted advertising was the more "classic" way that people understand their data is usedbut they may be less aware that it is becoming the "lifeblood" of AI training models.

Web3 Foundationan internet challenger which aims to replace the current web with a new user-led systemsaid people may be being excluded from the AI systems that their information helped to build.

Technology giants AmazonAlphabetAnthropicMicrosoft and Meta are estimated to earn up to £1,000 (RM5,335.50) annually on a single internet userthe report found.

This means that other growing AI firms are "doing the heavy lifting" when it comes to using personal data and potentially earning more.

US chip-maker Nvidia was the first company in the world to reach a market value of US$5 trillion (RM19.8 trillion) last yearhaving struck deals with AI giants like OpenAI and Oracle.

Microsoft and Apple have also recently surpassed the US$4 trillion (RM15.82 trillion) valuation mark.

"As AI accelerates and data becomes even more valuablebuilding a more transparentuser-led internet is becoming increasingly urgent," Laboon added. – dpa

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2...of-each-uk-user

well.. by tying ur acc to a payment methodthey can find out who is behind the acc.. and they will hand over the info to the gov if requested.. just be warned.