Can websites force you to accept cookies?

Not where valid GDPR consent depends on the user having a genuine choice. If access to a service is made conditional on accepting consent-based cookies and the user has no real alternative, the resulting consent may not be freely given.

A cookie wall that simply requires users to accept non-essential cookies or leave the service can therefore create a problem under GDPR consent requirements.

This does not apply in the same way to technologies that are necessary to provide the requested service because those technologies may not require consent. “Consent or pay” models also require a separate assessment and should not automatically be treated as equivalent to a simple cookie wall.

A compliant GDPR consent mechanism should provide a genuine choice where consent is being relied upon.

EDPB Guidelines 05/2020 on consent