Meta could be forced to make massive changes to timelines in its social media apps
A ruling by a Dutch court could ultimately force Meta to make sweeping changes to timeline appearance in the likes of Facebook and Instagram. While it is possible to switch form an algorithm-controlled timeline to a chronological one, the court says that this should be made more accessible.
What could this mean? Right now, it is difficult to say for sure, but it could be the case that – in some jurisdictions, at least – Meta could be required to make a chronological timeline the default.
The ruling centers on the court’s assertion that Meta’s current approach to thing does not comply with the European Union's Digital Services Act.
Stating that “people in the Netherlands are not sufficiently able to make free and autonomous choices about the use of profiled recommendation systems”, the court said that Meta has just two weeks to come up with a “direct and simple” way for users to opt out of a timeline that is populated with recommended content.
The ruling came after Bits of Freedom – a digital right group – pointed out what it believes to be a violation of the Digital Services Act. Article 27 of the Act reads:
Providers of online platforms that use recommender systems shall set out in their terms and conditions, in plain and intelligible language, the main parameters used in their recommender systems, as well as any options for the recipients of the service to modify or influence those main parameters […] where several options are available for recommender systems that determine the relative order of information presented to recipients of the service, providers of online platforms shall also make available a functionality that allows the recipient of the service to select and to modify at any time their preferred option.
The rights group says:
Bits of freedom sued meta for a breach of the digital services act (DSA). This European legislation is intended to give users more autonomy and control over the major online platforms. One of the core elements of the DSA is that users must have greater influence over the information they see.
For many people, and especially for young people, social media platforms are a major source of news and information. Therefore it is crucial that users themselves can decide which content appears on their feed. Without that freedom of choice, participation in the public debate is seriously hampered. That is problematic at any time, but especially so during election periods. In the Netherlands, national elections will be held at the end of this month.
The judge states that Meta is indeed acting in violation of the law. He says that “a non‑persistent choice option for a recommendation system runs counter to the purpose of the DSA, which is to give users genuine autonomy, freedom of choice, and control over how information is presented to them.” The judge also concludes that the way meta has designed its platforms constitutes “a significant disruption of the autonomy of Facebook and Instagram users.” The judge orders Meta to adjust its apps so that the user’s choice is preserved, even when the user navigates to another section or restarts the app.
The group goes on to say:
Meta has an interest in steering users toward a feed where it can show as many interest‑ and behavior‑based ads as possible. That is the core of Meta’s revenue model. Subtle design techniques push users toward that feed, while the non‑profiled feed is hidden behind a logo, making it hard to find. Users who do choose the alternative timeline also lose direct access to features such as direct messages. Moreover, when you open the app, it always starts with Meta’s feed, even if the user selected a different one before. Because of the judge’s ruling, meta must change its behavior.
While Bits of Freedom is celebrating this win, Meta has indicated that it plans to appeal.
Image credit: kvickys / depositphotos