BRUSSELS, June 3 - Europe’s General Court handed Meta Platforms a mixed outcome on Wednesday in its challenge to gatekeeper labels assigned under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The tribunal sided with Meta on the classification of its Marketplace platform but dismissed the company’s contest to the designation applied to Messenger.
In its written finding the court said the reasoning behind the designation of Marketplace as a core platform service that qualifies as an online intermediation service was insufficient. "The decision does not satisfy the requirements in terms of reasoning as regards Marketplace, in that it allows neither Meta to understand the reasons for its classification as a core platform service that is an online intermediation service nor the Courts of the European Union to exercise their power of review," the General Court stated.
Meta brought the dispute to the Luxembourg-based tribunal after the European Commission determined that both Marketplace and Messenger met the DMA's quantitative thresholds, and therefore served as important gateways for businesses to reach users. That Commission classification is the basis for imposing obligations and prohibitions on designated gatekeepers.
The DMA, as noted by the court, prescribes a set of permitted and prohibited behaviors intended to limit the dominant market positions of certain large digital companies and to level competitive conditions for rival firms and new entrants. The case is registered as T-1078/23 Meta Platform v Commission.
The split judgment leaves intact the legal status of Messenger as a designated gatekeeper service while creating uncertainty around the legal footing of the Marketplace designation. By finding the reasoning inadequate with respect to Marketplace, the General Court identified a procedural or logical gap in the Commission's explanation rather than overturning the DMA's substantive criteria.
The ruling will likely determine the next procedural steps between Meta Platforms Inc and EU authorities. Because the court upheld Messenger's designation, obligations deriving from that label remain in place unless further rulings or administrative actions alter the situation. For Marketplace, the insufficient reasoning noted by the court implies the Commission may need to clarify or supplement its justification for classifying the service as a core platform service under the DMA.
In summary, the General Court offered a partial victory for Meta, affirming the Messenger designation but requiring more robust reasoning from the Commission on Marketplace. The decision underscores the legal scrutiny being applied to the implementation of the DMA and the procedural standards EU bodies must meet when assigning gatekeeper status.