Amazon (AMZN.O), in its fight against EU tech laws that classify it as a very large online platform (VLOP), needed to offer academics and authorities access to its ad libraries to understand how adverts are targeted, has received judicial backing for the time being.
After being labeled a vertically integrated online platform (VLOP) along with 18 other platforms and search engines by EU antitrust officials in April, the online retailer based in the United States moved its complaint to Europe’s second-highest court, the General Court, which is located in Luxembourg.
It asked the court for an interim measure that would suspend the requirements of the Digital Services Act (DSA) on compiling and making public an advertisement repository, as well as the requirement that it provide users with an option for each of its recommender systems that is not based on profiling, until the court rules on its challenge against its label. This request was made in anticipation of the court’s decision regarding its challenge against its label.
The court found that its arguments were valid.
“The grant of the interim measures requested amounts to no more than maintaining the status quo for a limited period,” the justices wrote in a judgment dated September 27.
Amazon expressed their satisfaction with the interim measure, which they referred to as “an important first step that supports our broader position that Amazon does not fit the description of a ‘Very Large Online Platform’ (VLOP) under the DSA, and as a result, should not be designated as such.”
The court denied Amazon’s request on the second part of their application.
The case number is T-367/23 R, and Amazon Services Europe Sarl is bringing it against the Commission.
