Netherlands Appeals Court rules Meta must provide users with profilling-free feeds

The Court of Appeal in the Netherlands has ruled in favour of the digital rights organisation Bits of Freedom, upholding an October 2025 decision that Meta must provide Facebook and Instagram users with a non-profiled feed. Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), platforms are obligated to offer users in the country a choice over how their content is curated. The ruling is significant and ensures that users in the Netherlands can access a chronological feed of the accounts they follow, rather than one determined solely by Meta's profiling algorithms.

Interestingly, Meta withdrew its substantive objections to the DSA violation just before the hearing, contesting only procedural points, such as the case's urgency and implementation deadlines. The court rejected these arguments, confirming that the matter is urgent as Meta's conduct impeded freedom of communication and public debate. To ensure compliance, the court increased the potential penalty to €10 million. While this judgment currently only applies to users in the Netherlands, it establishes a precedent for digital human rights enforcement against major technology companies within the European regulatory framework.

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