EU court rejects TikTok bid to suspend tough curbs
The landmark European Union law would force the largest tech firms to change their ways under a checklist of dos and don'ts and, regulators hope, create a fairer market.
Photo: Pexels/cottonbro studio
BRUSSELS - TikTok on Friday lost a court bid to suspend strict new EU rules designating it a market "gatekeeper", pending a final ruling on the video-sharing app's legal challenge to the law.
The landmark European Union law would force the largest tech firms to change their ways under a checklist of dos and don'ts and, regulators hope, create a fairer market.
Coming into force next month, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) designates six "gatekeepers" facing the curbs: Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft -- and ByteDance, the only non-US company.
TikTok filed a legal challenge against its designation in November.
The platform owned by China's ByteDance asked the Luxembourg-based General Court last year to suspend its obligation to comply with the DMA while its case is ongoing.
"ByteDance has failed to demonstrate the urgency required for an interim order in order to avoid serious and irreparable damage," the court said in a statement.
The company had argued that complying with the "contested decision risks causing the disclosure of highly strategic information concerning TikTok's user profiling practices, which is not otherwise in the public domain", the court added.
TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The DMA also identified 22 "core" platforms provided by companies including Facebook, Instagram and several Alphabet products including YouTube.
TikTok is not the only firm that is challenging the EU in the courts over the labels.
Meta is also contesting the designation of its instant messenger service Messenger as a "core platform service", and its Facebook Marketplace.
TikTok and Meta this week also said they would sue the EU over a fee that the world's biggest tech companies must pay under a content moderation law.