EU court rejects Meta's challenge on Messenger gatekeeper status

Europe's General Court has partially sided with Meta Platforms in its legal challenge against the European Commission's designation of its services as 'gatekeepers' under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The court backed Meta's fight against the labelling of its Marketplace platform as a gatekeeper, stating that the decision lacked sufficient reasoning for Meta to understand the classification and for the courts to exercise their review powers. However, the court rejected Meta's challenge against the same designation for its messaging app, Messenger. The European Commission had previously identified both Marketplace and Messenger as important gateways for businesses to reach users, meeting the quantitative criteria set by the DMA. The DMA establishes a set of rules for large online platforms to ensure fair competition and prevent Big Tech companies from abusing their market power. Meta acknowledged the mixed outcome, welcoming the ruling on Marketplace and stating they are reviewing the Messenger finding and will consider their options, including an appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Meta stock was trading down 0.47% on the day of the ruling. The court found that regulators had not sufficiently explained their reasoning when initially applying the classification for Marketplace. However, the Commission had already removed Marketplace from its gatekeeper list in April 2025 after it no longer met the user threshold required for designation under DMA rules. Meta shares experienced a modest decline following the announcement, reflecting cautious investor sentiment rather than panic selling. Analysts note that while the financial impact of the ruling is limited in the short term, regulatory clarity in Europe continues to trend toward tighter oversight of major tech platforms. Investors are particularly focused on how interoperability rules might affect Meta's long-term control over its messaging ecosystem. Any requirement to open Messenger to third-party platforms could introduce competitive pressures in a space where Meta has historically maintained strong network effects. In a separate development, the European Parliament announced it will switch to French search engine Qwant from Google starting June 4, 2026, as part of a broader initiative to reduce reliance on non-EU digital tools and promote European-based, privacy-focused services. This move affects approximately 720 lawmakers and thousands of staff.