A court in the Netherlands has ruled that Meta must change the way Facebook and Instagram feed works because their current form violates the Digital Services Act (DSA). According to Reuters, the court said the company must provide users with simpler options, primarily ones that do not rely on algorithms.
"People in the Netherlands do not have sufficient opportunity to make free and independent choices about the use of recommendation systems based on profiles," the decision states.
The court ruled that the feed must take into account user choices — such as chronological order or other non-algorithmic options — instead of automatically returning an algorithmic version after each relaunch of the applications.
The lawsuit against Meta was filed by Dutch digital rights organization Bits of Freedom.
"It is unacceptable that a few American tech billionaires can determine how we see the world," said the organization's spokeswoman, Maartje Knaap.
Meta responded by stating that it would appeal the decision and that issues related to DSA should be resolved by the European Commission and other EU regulators, not by the courts of individual countries.
"Such lawsuits pose a threat to the digital single market and the coherent regulatory regime that ensures it," said a Meta representative.
The company could face a fine of $117,450 for each day of non-compliance with the court order, but not more than $5.8 million.
DSA has become a major problem for big tech companies since its passage in 2022. The European Commission has already imposed hundreds of millions of dollars in fines on Apple, Meta, and Google for violating the law. The regulation has also forced platforms to make a number of changes to improve privacy, data security, and child protection.