A Dutch court has ordered Meta to change the discovery structure on its Facebook and Instagram platforms. The ruling stated that the current system violates the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). According to Reuters, the court emphasized that the company should offer users simpler, non-algorithmic options.
Meta announced that it will appeal the decision
The court ruling stated, “People in the Netherlands cannot make sufficiently free and autonomous choices regarding the use of profiled recommendation systems.” Accordingly, users’ choices made in chronological order or among non-algorithmic options should remain valid even when closing and reopening the app.
The lawsuit was filed by the digital rights organization Bits of Freedom. The organization’s spokesperson, Maartje Knaap, said, “It is unacceptable that a few American tech billionaires dictate how we see the world.”
The company argued that such cases should be handled by the European Commission and EU regulators, not individual courts. A Meta spokesperson stated, “These types of cases threaten the digital single market and the harmonized regulatory regime that should support it.” If Meta fails to comply, it could face fines of up to $5.8 million, or $117,450 per day.
The DSA, which came into force in 2022, imposes significant obligations on tech giants. The European Commission has imposed hundreds of millions of dollars in fines on companies like Apple, Meta, and Alphabet to date. The regulations also mandate fundamental changes to platforms to ensure user privacy, data security, and, in particular, the protection of children.
