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We will soon have more rights to exercise in relation to social networks. About what to see in the feed; to complain against a censure that we feel we have suffered, for example. But also to advertise on social media at prices that are truly competitive. In general, an era of greater control and transparency on the part of users is coming, and the era of the absolute power of big techs over their services is over. The news comes from a package of European regulations, the first of which come into force on 25 August. A long-heralded turning point; but now you can understand what really changes for users, thanks to the example of Meta, which this week communicated the details of the upcoming changes.
More control over feeds
A first novelty of clear practical impact is the possibility of deciding what to see on Facebook and Instagram. Meta now allows European users to browse and search for content by skipping the recommendation algorithm filter. A novelty that applies to Reels, Stories, Search and other parts of Facebook and Instagram. For example, on Facebook and Instagram, it is possible to view the Stories and Reels only of people followed by us, classified in chronological order, from the most recent to the oldest. Or to display search results based only on the words entered, rather than having them personalized based on one’s previous activities and personal interests. Attention, it is a much bigger novelty than the chronological feed, which can already be activated on Instagram, Meta, Twitter. That is, the ability to view from newest to oldest, only from users we follow. TikTok has also announced the arrival of a feed without the recommendation algorithm. Greater control also comes from a better knowledge of the criteria adopted by Meta.
The principle of transparency is imposed by Europe.
So Meta publishes 22 factsheets that better explain how the artificial intelligence behind the content recommendation and hierarchy works. It reads: “If many people have positively engaged with an Instagram post or similar content, the post will appear higher in a person’s feed. Otherwise, if those interactions have been negative, or if content is expected to be objectionable based on our standards, guidelines, or integrity policies, the content will either be removed or displayed further down the feed.” We also learn that Meta does a balancing act with two different artificial intelligences. “One AI system ranks content from friends, Pages and groups people are in contact with, while another AI system ranks recommended content from others they are not in contact with but may be interested in. What people see in their feed is a balanced combination of results from both AI systems, as well as ads and additional product offerings like bundles and reels.”
Control over reporting and censorship
Meta is also going to give us more insight into why he deleted a post, blocked a profile. Goodness of her, one might say. These reasons can be useful to avoid repeating the same mistake; but also to prepare an appeal. However, Meta does not mention another important point in the note announcing the news: “from February 2024, thanks to the European DSA regulation, we will be able to appeal the decisions of the platforms through an independent authority; so far, however, the ‘judge’ of the appeal coincided with the first ‘sentence’: big tech itself”, explains Massimo Borgobello, lawyer and author of the Manual of law on the protection of personal data, services and digital markets (September 2023, Key publisher).
More rights also on advertising
One more change that may go unnoticed, but it’s very important. Meta is expanding its Ad Library to display and store all ads targeting people in the EU, along with ad publication dates, parameters used for targeting (e.g. age, gender, location), who the ad was served to, etc. “These ads will be archived in our public Ad Library for one year, so that anyone, anywhere can better understand every ad that runs in the EU.” “This also meets European demands to increase competition in this market,” he explains. Borgobello. With the new library, advertisers will have more information and therefore greater control over advertising costs, in relation to their effectiveness and in comparison with what is spent by their direct competitors”.