The General Court of the European Union issued a ruling on the 3rd, upholding the European Commission's previous decision to characterize the instant messaging application Messenger owned by the US high-tech company Meta as a "gatekeeper". The court also revoked the "gatekeeper" designation of the company's Marketplace platform.
The EU General Court pointed out in its judgment that the European Commission was not inappropriate in determining that Messenger is a core platform service and key entrance for business users to reach consumers. Therefore, the application must fulfill relevant obligations under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). Regarding the Marketplace platform, the court held that the European Commission failed to fully explain its qualitative reasons, so it revoked its "gatekeeper" designation. Since the European Commission canceled the Marketplace label last year because the number of users did not reach the threshold, this revocation ruling currently has mainly theoretical significance.
A spokesperson for Meta responded that day that it welcomed the court's ruling on the Marketplace platform, which confirmed that the platform should not have been designated as a "gatekeeper" before; the company is currently reviewing the ruling involving Messenger and will consider subsequent response plans.
The EU Digital Market Law will officially enter into force in 2023. The bill establishes a series of strict codes of conduct, aiming to curb their industry monopolistic behavior by implementing targeted supervision on technology giants with significant market influence to ensure fair competition in the digital market.
According to EU judicial procedures, relevant parties can appeal this ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the EU's highest court, within a specified time.
Note: Gatekeeper is a core concept in the EU's Digital Markets Act. It specifically refers to large technology giants that have a market monopoly in the digital economy, control core platform services (CPS), and act as a key channel between business users and end consumers. The EU identifies "gatekeepers" by setting strict quantitative indicators and qualitative standards. Once identified, these companies must fulfill a series of specific legal obligations of "do's" and "don'ts", otherwise they will face huge fines.