Amazon lodges legal challenge to new EU rules on platforms

Internet retailer Amazon stated Wednesday it had launched a authorized problem in an EU courtroom towards Brussels designating it as a really giant on-line platform coming below stringent new guidelines.

The European Commission in April offered a listing of 19 on-line firms it stated met the factors for that designation. Amazon was on it, together with Twitter, TikTok, and providers from Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft.

From August 25, they are going to be required to observe guidelines set out within the European Union’s new Digital Services Act (DSA), which goals to curb unlawful web content material and disinformation.

One requirement is that they endure an unbiased annual audit carried out on measures that the platforms and search engines like google use to struggle disinformation, hate speech and counterfeits.

Another is that they open up their algorithms to the fee and provide accepted researchers entry to their information.

They additionally must conduct danger analyses for unlawful content material on their providers and give you mitigation measures.

Those showing on the EU’s record of very giant on-line platforms or search engines like google reached or surpassed a threshold stipulated within the DSA of 45 million energetic month-to-month customers in Europe. But an Amazon spokesperson contacted by AFP stated “the DSA was designed to address systemic risks posed by very large companies with advertising as their primary revenue and that distribute speech and information”.

While Amazon agreed with that objective, it argued that “Amazon doesn’t fit this description” as its income comes from retail gross sales, not advertisements, and “therefore (we) should not be designated” as a really giant on-line platform (VLOP).

“If the VLOP designation were to be applied to Amazon and not to other large retailers across the EU, Amazon would be unfairly singled out and forced to meet onerous administrative obligations that don’t benefit EU consumers,” the spokesperson stated.

The US firm says it has already applied measures to guard clients from unlawful merchandise, independently of EU obligations. Those measures value it $1.2 billion in 2022, it stated.

Amazon’s authorized problem follows one lodged final month by the German on-line retailer Zalando over its VLOP designation.

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