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Journalism of Courage
A Dutch court on Thursday ordered Meta Platforms to provide Facebook and Instagram users with simpler options for a timeline that does not rely on profiling.
The court said elements of the design of both platforms were not in line with the European Union’s Digital Services Act. It gave Meta two weeks to offer users a “direct and simple” way to opt out of a timeline with recommended content.
It also ruled that users’ choices for a chronological or other non-profiled timeline must remain in effect.
The court said the platforms’ current practice of automatically reverting to a profiled timeline whenever the app or website is closed constitutes a prohibited “dark pattern” and 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 said.
The court said these choices were also important in light of the general election in the Netherlands on October 29.
A spokesperson for Meta said the company will appeal the ruling.
“We introduced substantial changes to our systems to meet our regulatory obligations under the DSA (EU’s Digital Services Act), and notified users in the Netherlands about how they can use our tools to experience our platforms without personalisation,” she said.
The company said the issue is a matter for the European Commission and regulators at the European levels and not for courts in individual countries.
“Proceedings like this threaten the digital single market and the harmonized regulatory regime that should underpin it,” she said.
Bits of Freedom, the Dutch digital rights group that brought the case, said the ruling made clear that Meta must respect user preferences.
“It is unacceptable that a few American tech billionaires can determine how we view the world,” its spokesperson Maartje Knaap said.
