Amazon gets boost in EU court fight over new digital rules

Amazon.com Inc. won the first round of a court spat with European Union regulators who included it on a list of Big Tech firms facing extra scrutiny under the bloc’s tough new content-moderation rules.

The Amazon.com website on a laptop arranged in New York, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. The US Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon.com Inc. in a long-anticipated antitrust case, accusing the e-commerce giant of monopolizing online marketplace services by degrading quality for shoppers and overcharging sellers. (Bloomberg)

Amazon.com Inc. won the first round of a court spat with European Union regulators who included it on a list of Big Tech firms facing extra scrutiny under the bloc's tough new content-moderation rules.

In an order late on Wednesday, the president of the EU's General Court partly suspended the European Commission's April decision forcing Amazon to publish a detailed database of adverts it receives, including their content, the brand name or subject and who paid for them.

The move follows Amazon's July challenge of the EU's decision to label it as a “very large online platform” under the Digital Services Act alongside rival marketplaces such as Google Shopping and Alibaba. The Luxembourg-based court soon after issued a provisional order to completely suspend the EU's decision. Wednesday's court order supersedes the previous one.

“We welcome this decision as an important first step that supports our broader position that Amazon doesn't fit the description of a ‘Very Large Online Platform' (VLOP) under the DSA, and therefore should not be designated as such,” Amazon said in an emailed statement. “We look forward to working closely with the EC with regard to Amazon's other obligations under the DSA.”

The EU passed the landmark act last year, spurred by what it saw as a failure by powerful firms to combat illegal material on their platforms. The rules require online marketplaces like Amazon to trace the sellers on their platform, add methods for customers to flag illegal content and randomly test for illegal products.