TikTok Joins Meta in Challenging EU “Gatekeeper” Status Under Digital Markets Act 📱

On Thursday, TikTok followed in the footsteps of Meta by filing an appeal against its “gatekeeper” status as defined by the Digital Markets Act (DMA), an EU law imposing stricter regulations on tech companies and facilitating user mobility between competing services. Meta had challenged designations for its Messenger and Marketplace platforms but opted not to appeal for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The EU had identified 22 “gatekeeper” services across six tech giants, including Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta, and TikTok, to which the latter two have now objected. TikTok argues that its designation as a gatekeeper could undermine the DMA’s intended goal by protecting established gatekeepers from emerging competitors, asserting its platform’s capability as a significant challenger after just over five years of operation in Europe. TikTok contests that it falls below the law’s revenue threshold of 7.5 billion euros ($8.13 billion) generated annually in the European Economic Area and questions its gatekeeper status based on the global market capitalization of its parent company, ByteDance, a substantial portion of which originates from non-European operations.