The European Union’s (EU) top court has ruled against Amazon Inc., and it must now meet the Digital Services Act (DSA) obligations. The e-commerce giant won’t get any reprieve concerning the act’s public disclosure requirements.
Amazon had fought hard to shield itself completely or perhaps delay meeting the requirements of the EU DSA. However, the EU’s top court has essentially struck down a judgment that a lower court had passed in Amazon’s favor.
Amazon Inc. loses appeal and must meet DSA obligations
The EU and American companies including Amazon have been battling new laws that aim to bring about increased transparency, accountability, and even sustainability in business practices.
EU’s Digital Services Act or DSA designates Amazon and several other companies as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP). Hence, these mega-corporations are subjected to tougher rules. These regulations intend to tackle illegal and harmful content on these online platforms that are used by millions.
As expected, Amazon quickly challenged the DSA and attacked its multiple provisions. One of the regulations required Amazon to reveal a repository containing detailed information on its online advertising.
Simply put, the EU wanted companies like Amazon to publicly disclose their advertising algorithms or digital reasoning and serving mechanisms for advertisements. Amazon protested and asked for an interim measure, at least until the court ruled on the case.
Interestingly, a lower tribunal granted Amazon a reprieve. The lower court essentially suspended the contested obligation. Dissatisfied with the outcome, the EU approached Europe’s top court.
The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has set the suspension aside. The top court dismissed Amazon’s application for an interim relief. In other words, the CJEU has denied any exemption from meeting the obligations of the DSA.
🚨EU law, DSA & fundamental rights. Interesting order by Vice President @EUCourtPress rejecting @amazon‘s request to suspend its obligation to make an advertisement repository publicly available setting aside part of the order of the president of the GC. https://t.co/0HE9EdtaX5 pic.twitter.com/zl5b7cw45G
— Jacob Öberg (@Jacobbe79601492) March 27, 2024
EU’s interest outweighs Amazon’s material interests, rules top court
The judge presiding over the case declared Amazon’s arguments were invalid. Amazon had reportedly claimed that the DSA obligation, “unlawfully limits its fundamental rights to respect for private life and the freedom to conduct a business”.
However, the judge presiding over the case claimed, “Suspension would lead to a delay, potentially for several years, in the full achievement of the objectives of the Regulation on a Single Market for Digital Services and therefore potentially allow an online environment threatening fundamental rights to persist or develop.”
“The interests defended by the EU legislature prevail, in the present case, over Amazon’s material interests, with the result that the balancing of interests weighs in favor of rejecting the request for suspension.” Perhaps realizing it doesn’t stand a chance with its previous argument, Amazon appears to have trained its guns on the DSA itself. The e-commerce giant has claimed it “doesn’t fit the description of a ‘Very Large Online Platform’ (VLOP) under the DSA”. It is not immediately clear if the EU’s top court will entertain this argument.
MLex #Amazon has lost a request to suspend its obligation under #DSA to publish a repository with advertising information for its online store
the EU’s interests in enforcing the DSA “prevail” over the US online #platform ’s material interestsimportant msg sent!
by @NewmanMLex pic.twitter.com/2wRjq6WkNq— Umberto GAMBINI 🇪🇺🏴🇪🇺🇮🇹🇪🇺 (@UGambini) March 27, 2024
