Europe Dictates Digital Change: How Meta's Latest Moves Comply with DSA

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms Inc META launched non-personalized content streams for users within the European Union. 

This significant move aligns with the European bloc's revamped digital mandate, the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Alongside TikTok, which also recently made a similar declaration, these tech behemoths are paving the way to recalibrate their platforms for the EU's digital future, TechCrunch reports.

Also Read: Future of Digital Advertising Is Here - Meta's AI-Powered Ads

The DSA stipulates that larger platforms and search giants, known as VLOPs and VLOSE, respectively, must provide their users in the region with options to turn off AI-based content "personalization." 

The primary motivation for the EU in enforcing this transition is to safeguard users from potential risks associated with AI-driven feeds, like filter bubbles, addiction, or even manipulation. They aim to uphold user autonomy and free choice.

Nick Clegg, Meta's global affairs president, illustrated the company's dedication in a blog post, emphasizing: "We're now giving our European community the option to view and discover content on Reels, Stories, Search and other parts of Facebook and Instagram that is not ranked by Meta using these [AI recommender] systems."

Beyond this primary shift, Meta is also making strides towards greater transparency concerning its AI and ad mechanisms in addition to expanding their Ad Library to comprehensively document all advertisements targeting EU citizens, capturing critical targeting criteria such as age, gender, and location.

Anticipating the forthcoming DSA compliance deadline, Meta is rolling out more tools for research analysts to explore content across its platforms. 

As noted by Clegg, "The library includes publicly available content from Pages, Posts, Groups and Events on Facebook, as well as publicly available content from creator and business accounts on Instagram."

Additional endeavors to comply with the DSA include refining tools to report illicit content and a massive personnel push with over a thousand individuals focused on ensuring compliance with this expansive EU legislation.

Furthermore, Meta had discontinued allowing advertisers to exploit sensitive personal data, like political beliefs, religious affiliations, and sexual orientation, for their advertising campaigns.

Price Action: META shares traded higher by 0.43% at $291.36 on the last check Tuesday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.