Today: 7 October 2025
18 July 2024
1 min read

EU court says TikTok owner can’t avoid bloc’s law 

TikTok had argued that it wasn’t a gatekeeper but was playing the role of a new competitor in social media taking on entrenched players like Facebook and Instagram owner Meta…reports Asian Lite News

TikTok owner ByteDance can’t avoid the bloc’s crackdown on digital giants, a European Union court said Wednesday in a decision that found the video sharing platform falls under a new law that also covers Apple, Google and Microsoft.

The EU’s General Court rejected ByteDance’s legal challenge against being classed as an online “gatekeeper that has to comply with extra obligations under the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Markets Act.

The rulebook, also known as the DMA, took effect this year and seeks to counter the dominance of Big Tech companies and make online competition fairer by giving consumers more choice.

TikTok had argued that it wasn’t a gatekeeper but was playing the role of a new competitor in social media taking on entrenched players like Facebook and Instagram owner Meta.

The judges, however, decided that since 2018 TikTok had succeeded in increasing its number of users very rapidly and exponentially and that it had rapidly consolidated its position, and even strengthened that position over the following years.

We are disappointed with this decision,” the company said in a prepared statement. TikTok is a challenger platform that provides important competition to incumbent players. TikTok said it will evaluate its next steps and noted that it has already taken measures to comply with the DMA.

The Digital Markets Act took effect in March, with a list of dos and don’ts for big tech gatekeeper companies aimed at giving users more choices and threatening big penalties if they don’t comply.

The ruling can be appealed to the EU’s Court of Justice, the bloc’s highest court, but only on points of law.

ALSO READ-UK to host 45 European leaders for EPC meet

Previous Story

8 Indians rescued from oil tanker that sank off Oman coast

Next Story

Omani brothers behind Muscat mosque attack, police confirm

Latest from -Top News

OCTOBER 7: Stop the Violence Now, Says Guterres

Guterres recalled that “the attackers brutally killed more than 1,250 Israelis and foreign nationals….reports Asian Lite News UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate halt to the violence in Gaza, Israel, and

Piyush Goyal Heads to Doha for Trade Talks

During the visit, both sides are expected to discuss the proposed India–Qatar Free Trade Agreement (FTA)….reports Asian Lite News Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will travel to Doha, Qatar, on

Hamas Heads to Egypt for Gaza Talks

The negotiation will focus on the details of enacting the first phase of the plan…reports Asian Lite News A delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas arrived in Egypt on Sunday ahead of

Multi-alignment, upgraded

With US ties strained and China tense, New Delhi taps Europe’s harder edge for co-development, clean tech and strategic autonomy, writes Manoj Menon India is recalibrating its great-power hedging as frictions with
Go toTop