Amazon goes to the EU Court for stricter supervision under the Digital Services Act
Amazon has appealed to the European Court of Justice against the classification that the company is a ‘very large online platform’. This DSA classification means that the company will come under increased EU supervision. Amazon believes this classification is unjustified.
“The Digital Services Act is designed to address the structural risks associated with very large companies that have advertising as their primary source of revenue, and disseminate opinions and information. Amazon does not fit this description of a ‘very large online platform’ and therefore should not should be classified as such,” the company says according to Financial Times, among others against the European Court of Justice.
Amazon is one of nineteen online platforms that have been classified as a very large online platform. This specifically concerns Amazon Marketplace. The Apple App Store, Facebook, LinkedIn and the Google Play Store, among others, are also ‘very large online platforms’, according to the European Commission. Such platforms must, among other things, do additional risk management, have external audits carried out, share data with authorities and researchers, be transparent about their recommendation algorithm and combat the spread of disinformation.
With the objection, Amazon hopes that the European Court of Justice will reverse this classification. The company states, among other things, that Marketplace does not spread disinformation, while the aim of the DSA is, among other things, to combat disinformation. Amazon also believes it is being unfairly targeted under the DSA and states according to Reuters that competitors that are larger in Member States are not classified as ‘very large online platforms’.
The new measures will come into effect on August 25. The European Commission says the DSA has a broad purpose and that platforms that sell products or services may also fall under it. The Commission therefore does not intend to reverse the classification. Amazon is the second company to go to the European Court of Justice because of this classification; At the end of June, clothing online store Zalando was the first. This company also states that it is ‘mainly’ a trading platform and that the DSA should therefore not be in force.