Amazon Faces European Justice: Retail Titan to Align with EU Digital Regulations

Amazon will not be able to waive its obligations in the European region. The General Court of the European Union has rejected the appeal of the technology giant led by Jeff Bezos against the decision of Brussels to designate it, in 2023, as a “large digital platform”, for violating the freedom of enterprise, the right to property and freedom of expression. The company has advanced its intention to appeal the ruling in a statement.

The EU regulation obliges large digital platforms to remove illegal content, store ads and give authorities access to data. The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) defines that platforms with more than 45 million users can receive this classification.

The ecommerce giant signaled its disagreement with the implementation of these rules to its business. According to the company, the platform is a marketplace, not a content space or a social network with high systematic risk.

Amazon will appeal the decision to designate it as a “large digital platform”

In its judgment, to which an appeal is possible, the European High Court concedes that the DSA’s obligations constitute an “interference” with the freedom to conduct a business protected by the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, but warns that it is “justified” under the provisions of European law.

The court defends that the obligations imposed on these platforms, such as those relating to the option of recommendation without profiling, the public repository of advertisements or the access of researchers to certain data, “aim to prevent these risks, even if they entail significant economic burdens” for the companies concerned.

In a statement released by the company, it has advanced its intention to appeal the ruling because it insists that Amazon Store should not be designated as a “very large platform” (VLPO) and recalls that it has contested such a classification since even before the Digital Services Act came into force.