Apple, ByteDance, and Meta Contest Their DMA Gatekeeper Designations

The European Court of Justice on Friday confirmed that Apple, ByteDance, and Meta have each contested their respective designations as gatekeepers under the new Digital Markets Act (DMA), which puts stronger competition controls on the biggest Big Tech products and services. Microsoft and Google earlier said that they would not contest their own designations, but we’ve not yet heard from Amazon, the other Big Tech gatekeeper.

“Apple, ByteDance, and Meta have filed cases contesting decisions taken by the EU Commission under the Digital Markets Act,” the court tweeted. “Further information will be published in due course on the Court website.”

Apple’s challenge hasn’t been made public yet, but Bloomberg previously reported that the firm would dispute the EU’s gatekeeper designation for its mobile app store and would argue that iMessage didn’t warrant scrutiny or consideration as a gatekeeper.

Meta said that its Messenger and Marketplace offerings should not be beholden to DMA regulation, but did not appeal the designation for Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. ByteDance, meanwhile, said that its TikTok service was a “challenger to more entrenched platform businesses,” one that doesn’t even meet the DMA’s annual revenue requirement.