EU court dismisses Amazon’s request to scrap EU tech label

The European Union’s General Court on Wednesday dismissed a request by Amazon to scrap its designation as a platform subject to stricter requirements under EU online content rules.

Amazon had contested the lawfulness of the provision in the EU’s Digital Services Act that specifies which online platforms are labelled as “very large”. Those companies are required to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms.

The US online retail giant had argued in court that marketplaces like the Amazon Store do not pose systemic risks. But the EU’s second-highest court said the EU was not wrong in considering that very large online platforms, including marketplaces exceeding the threshold of 45 million users, were a risk to society.

The risks were posed by “disseminating illegal content or infringing fundamental rights, including consumer protection”, the court said.
“The obligations imposed on those platforms… are intended to prevent those risks, even if they entail significant financial burdens for those platforms.”

The court also dismissed all other arguments by Amazon.
Amazon did not immediately reply to a request for comment.