The American multinational company Amazon may remain subject to additional regulations in the European Union, the General Court of the EU ruled on Wednesday.
The court dismissed an appeal by the American tech giant against the EU's designation as a "very large online platform."
The Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes specific obligations on providers of certain services designated by the European Commission as "very large online platforms."
These are platforms with more than 45 million users in the EU – or 10% of the population. Platforms with this designation are subject to additional obligations regarding transparency, cooperation, and data access.
Justified restrictions
Amazon EU Sàrl, which operates the Amazon Store platform, had asked the Court to annul the Commission's decision on this matter, and challenged the legality of the provision in the regulation that determines which platforms must be designated.
Importantly, this would undermine certain fundamental rights under the EU Charter, including the freedom to conduct a business, freedom of expression, and the right to the protection of confidential information.
However, the General Court disagreed and dismissed the appeal, even though it did acknowledge that the DSA could hinder the freedom to conduct a business, as the regulation entails additional costs and obliges platforms to adapt their activities to the rules.
Credit: Christian Wiediger / Unsplash
These restrictions are, however, justified given the objective of the law, they said. For example, such large platforms can indeed pose systemic risks to society, "in particular by distributing illegal content or by undermining fundamental rights, including consumer protection."
This is the first time that the General Court has had to rule on the legality of designating a tech company as a "very large online platform." The case could therefore be seen as a stress test for the DSA.
In September, the General Court also rejected an application from German online retailer Zalando. The company disputed the methodology used by the Commission, arguing that it is not a classic platform but a hybrid, as it offers both its own and third-party products.
