TikTok believes that it does not qualify for gatekeeper status due to insufficient revenue generated in the European Economic Area.
Chinese ByteDance-owned TikTok has joined Meta* in anappeal against the "gatekeeper" status the companies were granted under the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Under the DMA, 22 online services owned by Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft are considered gatekeeper companies. Meta was the first to say it had filed a legal challenge to the EU's revamped enforcement regime before the European Union's General Court, disputing EU officials' decision to bring its Marketplace and Messenger services in scope of the new digital competition rulebook.
TikTok said it does not meet the law's threshold for revenues generated in the European Economic Area of 7.5 billion euros ($8.13 billion) per annum. The company said it was designated a gatekeeper based on its parent company, ByteDance's, global market capitalisation that us based primarily on the performance of business lines that do not even operate in Europe.
The Commission "respects companies’ right to appeal and will defend its decisions in court," said spokesperson Lea Zuber. "In parallel, we will continue our work with all gatekeepers towards effective implementation of the DMA" by March 7, she said.
Under the DMA, companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a market capitalisation of 75 billion euros are considered gatekeepers providing a core platform service.
The list of "gatekeepers" included:
- social networks: TikTok, Facebook*, Instagram*, LinkedIn;
- messengers: WhatsApp, Messenger;
- mediators: Google Maps, Google Play, Google Shopping, Amazon Marketplace, Apple's App Store, Meta Marketplace*;
- video services: YouTube;
- advertising services: Google, Amazon, Meta*;
- web browsers: Chrome, Safari;
- search engines: Google Search
- operating systems: Android, iOS, Windows.
Companies that own these services must restructure by March 2024.
*banned and designated as extremist in Russia.
