A Dutch court has ruled that Meta must offer Instagram and Facebook users in the Netherlands the option to choose a chronological feed that can be set as default over a feed based on an algorithm.
The tech giant has two weeks to comply, or face fines of €100,000 per day. Spoiler: that’s pocket change for a company worth over $1 trillion.
The ruling comes after digital rights organisation Bits of Freedom took Meta to court, arguing the company violated the EU’s Digital Services Act by burying the chronological feed option so deep in settings that most users don’t even know it exists.
Yes, you can technically view posts in chronological order on both platforms right now, but good luck finding that option without a treasure map.
And even if you do locate it, you can’t set it as your default, meaning the algorithm sneaks back in every time you open the app.
What the court actually ruled
According to the NOS, the Amsterdam court sided with Bits of Freedom, ruling that Meta must make the algorithm-free feed easily accessible and allow users to set it as their permanent default.
No more being force-fed content based on what Meta’s algorithm thinks you want to see.
Meta now has two weeks to roll out these changes for Dutch users. Miss the deadline, and they’ll owe Bits of Freedom €100,000 per day, capped at €5 million total.
Evelyn Austin, director of Bits of Freedom has reacted to the ruling, saying “Fantastic, really a boost for everyone trying to rein in Meta’s power,” the NOS reports.
The election angle (and why this matters beyond voting day)
Bits of Freedom originally filed the lawsuit because of concerns about algorithmic content influencing the Dutch elections set to take place on October 29.
“Elections are coming, so it’s important that people have control over their information diet,” director Evelyn Austin tells the NOS.
The idea? When an algorithm curates your feed based on engagement, it can create echo chambers and amplify divisive content, particularly around politically charged topics.
Even once we’re through the election period, the court has ruled that the algorithm-free option must remain available permanently.
Will Meta actually comply, or just pay the fine?
Here’s where things get interesting. The maximum penalty is €5 million, which sounds like a lot until you remember that, according to Variety, Meta made $164.5 billion in revenue in 2024.
That makes €5 million roughly 0.003% of their annual income. To put it in perspective, if you earn €50,000 a year, this fine would be equivalent to about €1.50.
So will Meta bother complying, or just pay what amounts to a rounding error in their quarterly earnings? The company wasn’t available for comment when NOS reached out, which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
The ruling only applies to the Netherlands for now, since that’s the jurisdiction of the Amsterdam court.
However, as Austin pointed out, the Digital Services Act is an EU-wide regulation. If other European courts follow suit, Meta might actually have to take this seriously.
If Meta does comply (big if), instead of Meta deciding you need to see your uncle’s conspiracy theories because they get lots of comments, you’ll just see posts from accounts you follow, in order, like the good old days.
Will you switch to a chronological feed if Meta actually makes it available, or have you already abandoned these platforms entirely? Let us know in the comments.
