In brief: The “Pay or Okay” system results in consent rates exceeding 99 percent despite only 0.16 to 7 percent of users actually wanting to be tracked, violating GDPR requirements for genuine consent.
Norwegian media conglomerate Schibsted has introduced a “Pay or Okay” system on its news platforms in Norway and Sweden that forces users to either accept tracking for advertising or subscribe to a paid model. Noyb and the Norwegian Consumer Council have therefore filed a complaint with the Norwegian data protection authority.
Schibsted operates major news brands in the Nordic countries, including Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Aftenposten as well as TV4 and VG in Norway. In March 2024, the company introduced a “Pay or Okay” model on all Swedish platforms; it now also applies to Norwegian offerings. The system forces users to choose between two options: free access in exchange for accepting personalized ad tracking or paid reading without tracking.
According to Noyb and the Norwegian Consumer Council, this practice results in consent rates of approximately 99 percent, while only 0.16 to 7 percent of users, according to various studies, actually want tracking or data use for personalized advertising. The Schibsted board confirmed this internally: if users could freely decline at no cost, “a large number would do so,” according to Fredric Karén, Executive Vice President of Schibsted Sweden. Noyb founder Max Schrems speaks of “North Korean consent rates” that do not constitute genuine, freely given consent as required by GDPR.
The Swedish data protection authority IMY has already received over 56 complaints against Schibsted regarding the “Pay or Okay” system. Noyb and the Norwegian Consumer Council have now filed a joint complaint with the Norwegian data protection authority and are calling for the business model to be declared unlawful. Since this is a systematic practice, the complainants also recommend the imposition of a fine.
Joakim Söderberg, data protection lawyer at Noyb, emphasizes: “Making profits from fundamental rights is not a legitimate business model in Europe.” The complaint joins a growing series of proceedings against “Pay or Okay” systems, which were first introduced by German news publishers and later also implemented by Meta for Instagram and Facebook.
Source: noyb.eu · Published 3 June 2026
Lumi AI News — AI-assisted curation in accordance with Art. 50 EU AI Act. Paraphrase and classification through Lumi News Pipeline v1.2.9.