Trends
ByteDance vs. EU: The gatekeeper battle lost in Court
The CJEU ruled on 17 July to reject ByteDance’s appeal against the EU’s decision to recognise it as a “gatekeeper”. The court said ByteDance met the DMA’s quantitative criteria of global market capitalisation, the number of users in the EU and the number of years since the threshold was reached.
Headline
The CJEU ruled on 17 July to reject ByteDance’s appeal against the EU’s decision to recognise it as a “gatekeeper”. The court said ByteDance met the DMA’s quantitative criteria of global market capitalisation, the number of users in the EU and the number of years since the…
Context
OUR TAKE ByteDance has lost a key legal dispute with EU regulators. The parent company of TikTok failed to win in court against the EU’s decision to label it as a “gatekeeper” under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The ruling has attracted a lot of attention, not only because it will have a direct impact on ByteDance’s operations in the European market, but also because it could herald similar regulatory challenges for more tech companies. –Elodie Qian, BTW reporter The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on 17 July to reject ByteDance’s appeal against the EU’s decision to recognise it as a “gatekeeper”.
Evidence
Pending intelligence enrichment.
Analysis
Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft were identified for the first time as the six “gatekeeper” firms last September. It was reviewed by the EU according to the Digital Marketplace Act. These companies were identified as providing core platform services such as social networks and search engines. Under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) , tech giants identified as “gatekeepers” must allow their messaging apps to interoperate with rivals, let users decide which apps are pre-installed on their devices, and must not favour their own services. ByteDance has argued that this designation could undermine the goals of the DMA, as the act is designed to protect emerging competitors, such as TikTok, which has yet to establish a solid position. The Luxembourg-based General Court upheld the European Commission’s decision and rejected ByteDance ‘s appeal, finding that the company had failed to sufficiently prove its point. The court said that the European Commission had every reason to consider ByteDance as a “gatekeeper”. The court noted that ByteDance met the DMA’s quantitative criteria of global market capitalisation, the number of users in the EU and the number of years since the threshold was reached.
Key Points
- The CJEU ruled on 17 July to reject ByteDance’s appeal against the EU’s decision to recognise it as a “gatekeeper”.
- The court said ByteDance met the DMA’s quantitative criteria of global market capitalisation, the number of users in the EU and the number of years since the threshold was reached.
Actions
Pending intelligence enrichment.
