Facebook and Instagram to Implement Chronological Feeds for Stories and Reels to Comply with EU Regulations
Meta has announced that it will soon introduce chronological order for Stories and Reels, along with other modifications, in order to adhere to the European Digital Services Act (DSA). These changes were anticipated following the European Commission’s announcement in April, stating that new regulations would mandate platforms like Facebook to provide alternative systems that do not rely on profiling as a crucial condition.
Meta said it has mobilized more than 1,000 people “to develop solutions to the demands of DSA”. Some of the changes will increase the transparency of how its systems work and give users more options to customize their experiences on Facebook and Instagram. At the same time, it will establish an “independent compliance function” to ensure it meets ongoing regulatory obligations.
Later this month, Meta will offer reels, stories, search, and other parts of Facebook and Instagram that aren’t categorized by Meta through its AI recommendation process. “On Facebook and Instagram, for example, users can only view the stories and reels of people they follow in chronological order, from newest to oldest,” wrote Nick Clegg, meta director of global affairs.
It is not clear how Meta will implement the change. Instagram’s main feed already allows users to be sorted based on following instead of using an algorithm-based approach. However, the “Following” feature is effectively a secondary page on Instagram, and the app always defaults to the algorithmic “For You” option when it’s first opened. Facebook is even more cumbersome, forcing you to select a menu, go to feeds, and tap “Friends” instead of “Everyone.”
Users can also view search results based only on the words they typed, rather than being tailored specifically to them based on past activity and personal interests. The company also provides more information about how its AI systems categorize content via 22 Facebook and Instagram system cards, adding a “Why am I seeing this” feature.
“These cards provide insight into how our AI systems categorize content into feeds, reels, stories and other surfaces; some of the predictions each system makes to determine what content might be most relevant to people, and options to help personalize the experience. On Facebook and Instagram,” Meta said.
Meta also expands its ad library to display and archive all ads (for one year) targeted to EU users, including dates, targeting parameters (age, gender, location), who received the ad, and more. It is also releasing two new tools for researchers that include publicly available content from pages, posts, groups and events.
The company said it “welcomes the DSA’s core principles of transparency, accountability and user empowerment”, adding that it has “long supported a harmonized regulatory regime”. However, Meta previously expressed extreme displeasure when Apple introduced changes that would allow users to easily opt out of targeted advertising starting with iOS 14. Because of this, observers will no doubt be very interested in how the changes are implemented and whether they follow the letter, if not the spirit, of the new law.