Ireland Moves Deeper into DSA Oversight with New Meta Dark Patterns Probe

Meta is facing two new investigations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), to be led by Irish regulator Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM). The regulator will assess whether Instagram and Facebook are in violation of two parts of the Act, Articles 27 and 25.

The investigation builds on complaints compiled by the regulator, which led CnaM to suspect that the company is using prohibited “dark patterns” to prevent users from exercising a right grant under the Act to choose a recommender system that is not based on profiling. If they are, this would see Meta liable for a fine of up to 6% of its global turnover. Based on last year’s published revenue figures, this could mean up to $12 billion for each violation found.

The regulator will carry out two separate assessments as part of its probe. It will determine whether users can select and modify their preferred recommender system and the functionality through Facebook and Instagram’s interfaces, something that Article 27(3) says needs to be easily accessible. It will also then assess whether Facebook and Instagram’s interfaces “deceive” or “manipulate” users away from choosing a recommender system feed that is not based on profiling of their personal data, the so-called dark patterns prohibition that is in Article 25(1).