Schibsted "Pay or Okay"

Schibsted "Pay or Okay" cookie consent fee is a system under which the Nordic media company Schibsted requires readers of its news sites to either consent to behavioral advertising profiling or pay a monthly fee to decline it. Schibsted launched the model, branded "Schibsted Ad Choices," across its Swedish properties on March 24, 2026 and expanded it to Norway in April 2026. In Norway, subscribers are charged an additional 39 NOK per month to refuse personalized tracking; in Sweden, non-subscribers pay 49 SEK and subscribers 39 SEK per month. The fee does not remove advertising but only stops the data profiling behind it. On June 3, 2026, the privacy organization noyb and the Norwegian Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet) filed a formal complaint with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, asking it to declare the practice unlawful under the General Data Protection Regulation.

Background

Schibsted was founded in 1839 and grew into one of the largest media companies in the Nordic region, operating in Norway and Sweden. On June 8, 2024, the company reorganized so that its news operations became a stand-alone media company, separated from its marketplace, growth, and investment divisions. The reorganization left the news division dependent on digital subscriptions and advertising to fund its journalism.

The publications affected by the 2026 system include VG (Verdens Gang), Aftenposten, Bergens Tidende, Stavanger Aftenblad, and the financial outlet E24 in Norway, and Aftonbladet, Svenska Dagbladet, and the broadcaster TV4 in Sweden.

Schibsted's media properties draw revenue from two streams: paid subscriptions and digital advertising. The advertising side relies on behavioral profiling, tracking reader activity through cookies and tracking pixels to serve personalized advertisements. As European regulators tightened rules on non-consensual tracking, Schibsted introduced the fee model in response.

The "Pay or Okay" system

How it works

When a reader visits a Schibsted website, a consent management interface presents two options. The reader can consent to having personal data processed for personalized behavioral advertising, or refuse that processing and pay a monthly fee to continue using the site. A reader who refuses both consent and payment is denied access to the content.

noyb describes this binary structure as forced consent. The organization cites behavioral research finding that, under such conditions, recorded consent rates rise to beyond 99%, while independent studies found that only 0.16% to 7% of people genuinely want to be tracked online. Max Schrems, founder of noyb, characterized the resulting figures in a statement accompanying the complaint:

The use of 'Pay or Okay' leads to a consent rate beyond 99%, despite the fact that only a small number of people wants to be tracked online. In reality, 'Pay or Okay' leads to nothing but a North Korean consent rate.

Fee structure

The fee is charged on top of any existing subscription rather than as part of it. In Norway, existing subscribers pay an additional 39 NOK per month to opt out of tracking. In Sweden, non-subscribers pay 49 SEK per month and subscribers pay 39 SEK per month to access a site without tracking, an amount paying subscribers are charged solely to exercise a data protection right.

Paying the fee does not produce an ad-free experience. Swedish coverage of the Aftonbladet rollout reported that readers who pay still see advertising; the fee changes the advertising from personalized to contextual rather than removing it. One analysis of the model summarized what the payment buys:

what is being sold is not access to journalism, convenience, or a premium experience, but a way out of profiling.

Access denial

There is no third option for a reader who neither consents nor pays. Refusing both results in a hard block on the content. noyb argues that this exclusion is what converts the consent on offer from a free choice into a financial transaction, because the only alternative to consent carries a monetary cost or loss of access.

Regulatory response

Datatilsynet

Before any formal complaint was filed, Norway's Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) issued a critical public statement on April 30, 2026, noting that it had received inquiries from consumers about the model. Datatilsynet director Line Coll stated:

This is not good news for the privacy of most people. Privacy is a human right that should not be paid for. We are concerned that privacy on the internet will be reserved for the rich, that it will become a luxury item.

Coll said the authority questioned whether consent can be considered voluntary when the alternative is a financial cost, and that low-income individuals, young people, and children are most affected because they have the least ability to pay to retain their privacy.

noyb and Norwegian Consumer Council complaint

On June 3, 2026, noyb and the Norwegian Consumer Council filed a joint complaint against Schibsted with Datatilsynet. The complaint makes three principal requests. It alleges that the model violates the GDPR requirement that consent be freely given, because tying site access to consent for commercial advertising turns that consent into a coerced transaction. It asks Datatilsynet to assess the model's legality and declare the practice unlawful. It also asks the authority to issue a fine.

Finn Myrstad, director of digital policy at the Norwegian Consumer Council, said in a statement accompanying the complaint that tracking enables detailed profiling of behavior and vulnerability, and that "Privacy is a fundamental right, not a premium option."

Swedish IMY involvement

Schibsted's Swedish rollout drew complaints before the Norwegian filing. As of early June 2026, the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY) had received at least 56 complaints from citizens about the system as implemented on Aftonbladet and TV4.

GDPR legal framework

Under Article 4(11) of the General Data Protection Regulation, consent must be a "freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication" of the data subject's wishes. Article 7(4) provides that, in assessing whether consent is freely given, account must be taken of whether the provision of a service is made conditional on consent to processing of personal data that is not necessary for that service.

On April 17, 2024, the European Data Protection Board adopted Opinion 08/2024 on "Consent or Pay" models, requested by the Dutch, Norwegian, and Hamburg data protection authorities following Meta's introduction of a paid ad-free tier for Facebook and Instagram. The opinion concluded that, in most cases, consent-or-pay models offered by large online platforms do not meet the GDPR's requirements for valid consent. It stated that personal data should not be treated as a tradeable commodity and that the right to data protection should not be something users must buy. The EDPB advised that platforms develop an equivalent alternative that does not rely on behavioral advertising, such as a free option supported by contextual advertising.

The EDPB opinion addressed large online platforms such as Meta. Law firm analyses note that Schibsted's legal position is expected to turn in part on whether the same standard applies to a regional publisher, a question the complaint puts before Datatilsynet.

Schibsted's defense

Schibsted announced the "Schibsted Ad Choices" program in February 2026 and has defended it as a response to regulatory change. Øyulf Hjertenes, executive vice president for Norway, framed the change as a forced adaptation:

This is not a step we take because we want to, but because we have to. When the conditions for advertising-funded journalism change, we must adapt in order to maintain a sustainable model for independent journalism.

Hjertenes said the company faces a potential annual revenue decline of 400 to 500 million NOK across Norway and Sweden if stricter interpretations of the GDPR remove its ability to use targeted advertising. Fredric Karén, executive vice president for Sweden, said in an interview with the Swedish broadcaster SVT that if readers could reject tracking without a fee, a large share would do so, which the company argues would undermine the funding of its journalism. Schibsted rejects the characterization that its consent is coerced, describing the fee as the value of the personalized advertising revenue lost when a reader opts out.

Consumer response

The rollout of the 39 NOK fee prompted public criticism in Norway. Norwegian outlets including Medier24 covered the system and the complaint against it. The 56 complaints recorded by the Swedish IMY reflect comparable public reaction in Sweden.

Current status

As of June 2026, Schibsted has not modified or removed the system, which remains active across Aftenposten, VG, Aftonbladet, and its other properties. Datatilsynet has received the June 3 complaint and must conduct a formal investigation to determine whether the model meets the "freely given" consent standard of Article 7 of the GDPR. No fine has been imposed.

See also

• General Data Protection Regulation
• Meta
• noyb