Dutch court orders Meta to simplify Facebook and Instagram feeds

A Dutch court has ordered Meta Platforms to provide Facebook and Instagram users with easier options to access timelines that do not rely on profiling, according to media reports.

The court said parts of the design of both platforms violated the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). It gave the company two weeks to introduce a ‘direct and simple’ way for users to choose a non-personalised timeline and ruled that their preferences must remain active once selected.

According to the reports, the court found that Meta’s current practice of automatically reverting users to a profiled, algorithm-driven feed each time they close the app or website amounts to a prohibited ‘dark pattern.’ The ruling said this design ‘infringes on the right to freedom of information.’

“People in the Netherlands are not sufficiently able to make free and autonomous choices about the use of profiled recommendation systems,” the court stated, noting that the decision carries added significance ahead of the Dutch general election on October 29.

Quoting a Meta spokesperson, Maartje Knaap, the reports stated that the company plans to appeal the ruling.

“We introduced substantial changes to our systems to meet our regulatory obligations under the DSA and notified users in the Netherlands about how they can use our tools to experience our platforms without personalisation,” the spokesperson said.

The company also argued that such issues should be handled at the European Commission level rather than by national courts. “Proceedings like this threaten the digital single market and the harmonised regulatory regime that should underpin it,” the spokesperson added.

Bits of Freedom, the Dutch digital rights group that brought the case, welcomed the verdict. “It is unacceptable that a few American tech billionaires can determine how we view the world,” the spokesperson said.