Report from Telecompape
In Brief – A Dutch court has extended until the end of 2025 the time that Meta has to modify the Facebook and Instagram services used in the Netherlands to allow users to easily set a chronological feed as the default for their homepage and Reels and to keep that preference in place until they change it themselves. The court had ruled in early October that the designs of the two platforms violated the EU Digital Services Act’s prohibition on “dark patterns” because finding the option to change to a chronological feed was difficult and the setting could not be made permanent. The company was given two weeks to make the necessary changes for face a fine that could reach EUR 5 million. Meta filed for an injunction to obtain more time, arguing that the changes were technically complex and reviews by the Apple and Google’s app stores were required before Facebook and Instagram updates could be rolled out. A spokesperson for Meta said the company will appeal the initial ruling and that the issue is a matter for European Commission regulators at the European levels and not for courts in individual countries, adding, “Proceedings like this threaten the digital single market and the harmonized regulatory regime that should underpin it.”
Context – Platforms with over 45 million active users in the EU are designated Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) under the DSA and face the strictest rules and enforcement by the Commission itself. This was done in response to complaints that the EU GDPR lacked aggressive enforcement because that law’s “one stop shop” mechanism gave lead authority to regulators in the member states with tech company headquarters. The Commission has DSA investigations underway involving X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, AliExpress, Temu, Apple, Google, Booking, Microsoft and four adult platforms. But even with the commission being given supposed regulatory leadership, digital enforcement overlaps continue to crop up, reinforcing concerns with inconsistent and restrictive EU regulatory regimes that were given voice in last year’s Draghi Report.