Meta, TikTok challenge EU’s crackdown on big tech dominance

Formal challenge paves the way for a fresh legal fight between regulators and tech giants

Meta is already embroiled in a dispute with the EU after the European Commission in December complained that the California-based company crushed competition from classified ad rivals by tying the Facebook Marketplace to its massive social network. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

Meta Platforms and TikTok-owner Bytedance have formally challenged the European Union’s latest clampdown on the dominance of Big Tech firms, paving the way for a fresh legal fight between regulators and the social media powerhouses.

Meta argued that the European Commission was wrong to put Facebook’s Marketplace and Messenger services within the scope of the bloc’s new digital antitrust rules, according to an appeal filed to the EU courts on Wednesday. The legal challenge sets up a battle in the courts with EU lawyers against the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, which is designed to rein in market abuse.