The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which enforces interoperability and keeps big companies from unfairly favoring their own services, has been throwing wrinkles into the plans of big tech quite a bit lately. The landmark act kicked into effect back in March and has since then found several targets to focus on, such as Microsoft, Meta, and more. Bytedance Ltd., the company behind TikTok, hoped to be able to skirt the new requirements set in place by the DMA, which only targets large "gatekeeper" companies. However, its attempts have been halted by the EU’s General Court.
This is likely to be just the first of TikTok’s legal challenges to the EU’s crackdown on Big Tech, as ByteDance has tried several times to say that it shouldn’t be considered in the same scope as the other big social media platforms that the DMA looks to target. However, the EU’s General Court does not seem to agree with ByteDance, and it has ruled that TikTok will indeed be held to the new standards set by the DMA.
The ruling passed on Wednesday, with the judge saying that TikTok meets the necessary thresholds to be included in the scope of the DMA. The judge also ruled that ByteDance’s attempt to appeal the EU’s decision to target it was unsubstantiated.
The DMA has been one of the biggest crackdowns on Big Tech of the generation, as its various regulations seek to keep the most powerful tech companies from engaging in predatory and anti-competitive actions that could ruin the market.
So far, the DMA has pushed big tech companies like Apple to allow for third-party app stores in the EU, while Microsoft and Facebook parent company Meta have both found themselves targeted by the act for not adhering to the new requirements. Even Google and Amazon have come under the microscope when it comes to the DMA, though some of these companies—like Apple and Meta—have also challenged the DMA’s designation of certain services.
This first court challenge from TikTok was an attempt to clarify that ByteDance Ltd.’s popular social media app should not be covered by the DMA, with the app even calling itself the “most capable challenger” to the biggest players in the industry. However, the EU General Court was not convinced. TikTok can take the battle forward by taking the issue to the European Court of Justice, if it chooses.
It’s unclear yet if ByteDance Ltd. will take this next step, though considering how hard the company has been fighting—and the fact it is also facing a possible ban in the United States—it could very well make the push to try to appeal against the DMA’s new procedures.