The General Court ruled today that Bytedance, the parent company of the video-sharing app TikTok, has lost its appeal against a decision by the European Commission to classify it as a gatekeeper under new competition laws.
The General Court’s confirmation of ByteDance’s status as a gatekeeper supports EU initiatives to control market-dominating tech firms. A component court of the European Union’s Court of Justice is the General Court.
Targeting digital competition, the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) appoints gatekeepers to maintain fair competition in important online sectors. Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Alphabet, and Meta are a few of the gatekeepers.
This year marked the implementation of the DMA, a guideline that aims to provide consumers more options to counterbalance the dominance of Big Tech corporations and improve the fairness of online competition.
The Court further declared that TikTok was running as a “challenger” to established platforms like Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet, which owns Google, and that it did not follow an exponential user expansion plan. Additionally, both companies are identified as “gatekeepers.”
TikTok had maintained that it was not a gatekeeper but rather a fresh face in the social media space, challenging established players like Facebook and Instagram owner Meta.
“We are disappointed with this decision,” the company said in a prepared statement. “TikTok is a challenger platform that provides important competition to incumbent players.”
TikTok stated that it has already made steps to comply with the DMA and that it will assess its next course of action.
Despite being the first company to contest its gatekeeper status, ByteDance was ordered by a Luxembourg-based court to adhere to new rules. ByteDance now has access to Europe’s top court for appeals.
We earlier reported that U.S. chipmaker, Broadcom Inc., and Chinese technology company, ByteDance, are reportedly collaborating to create a cutting-edge artificial intelligence processor.
