Source: Sharecast
The General Court in Luxembourg, the EU’s second-highest tribunal, ruled that the European Commission used an improper legal basis when it set the levy, which was designed to cover the cost of monitoring compliance with the Digital Services Act.
Judges said the methodology should have been adopted through a delegated act rather than implementing decisions.
Meta and TikTok argued the calculation was flawed and disproportionate, inflating their payments and in TikTok’s case leading to “discriminatory” results.
The companies said the formula relied on group-level revenues and inaccurate user data, while Commission lawyers countered that the approach was transparent and based on financial resources available across corporate groups.
The court’s decision gave regulators 12 months to correct the process but does not require repayment of fees already collected for 2023.
A Commission spokesperson said the ruling confirmed the validity of the levy itself and only necessitated a “purely formal correction” in procedure.
The DSA, which took effect in late 2022, obliges very large online platforms to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content or face penalties of up to 6% of annual global turnover.
Alongside Meta and TikTok, the supervisory fee also applies to Amazon, Apple, Booking.com, Alphabet's Google, Microsoft, Elon Musk’s X, Snap Inc's Snapchat and Pinterest.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.