TikTok tries to outwit the European Commission (and it ends badly)

© Unsplash/Lemon squeezer

The entry into force of the most restrictive provisions of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) – European text supposed to better protect the continent's consumers – has been causing the major platforms most potentially impacted to react for some time now.

And for good reason: in the event of designation as “Gatekeeper”, those involved risk having to comply with new obligations. For example, facilitating the transfer of data from one service to another.

TikTok loses its standoff against the Commission and the DMA

An unthinkable novelty for Meta like TikTok who have just lost an appeal before European Justice to avoid this situation. As a result, it is now confirmed: TikTok like Meta will have to assume their status as Gatekeeper and the obligations that go with it.

TikTok had however tried all possible angles, arguing that its designation “risked deviating from the objective of the DMA by protecting real & #8216;gatekeepers’ from more recent competitors like TikTok”.

Knowing that’we are talking all the same from an application which had 1.7 billion users worldwide in 2022… impressive figures which finally tipped the scales against the Bytedance application.

According to the European Court of Justice, TikTok indeed crosses all the thresholds provided for by the DMA that make it fall within this designation. Last September, the Commission designated some 22 entities as Gatekeepers, due to their dominant position.

The concentration in this area is quite high. The latter are in fact owned by a handful of companies: Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Meta and Bytedance. Last May, it was Booking.com's turn to be designated as the 7th “Gatekeeper”.

As a sign that the Commission is serious about strictly applying the new rules, investigations were opened in March into Apple, Meta and Alphabet to ensure compliance with the DMA. For its part, TikTok responded to the decision with the following press release:

“We are disappointed by this decision. TikTok is a competing platform that provides significant competition for already established players. As we evaluate next steps, we have already taken steps to comply with applicable DMA obligations before the final deadline of March”, says a spokesperson for the application.

• TikTok has just lost its appeal against the DMA, the European text which introduces new obligations for the dominant platforms.
• The application will therefore have to implement new possibilities for users to easily transfer their data, among others.
• The DMA text was initially received quite coolly by the main platforms concerned (mainly American).
• In total, 22 platforms and services come under the scope of the Law – all owned by a handful of players, including Meta, Google, Apple, Bytedance and Booking.com.
• This European victory seems to remove any risk of & #8217;weakening of the provisions of the DMA.

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