The meta platform and Tiktok have taken legal action against the European Commission and claimed that a fee for supervision deposited under the Digital Services Act (DSA) is disproportionate and based on incorrect calculations. On Wednesday, the classroom challenge was heard, the second supreme judicial body in Europe.
The fee, introduced as part of the DSA that came into force in 2022, applies to 19 main online platforms, including META and TIKTOK. It is calculated at 0.05 % of the company’s global income and aims to finance the supervision of the European Commission on compliance with legal regulations.
However, both companies question how the fee was evaluated. The meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, criticized the methodology and said that the Commission relied on parent company numbers rather than its subsidiary company based in the EU.
“We are not trying to avoid our obligations,” said the attorney of Meta Asmimakis Komninos panel of five judges. “The way the commission calculated the fee remains unclear. It lacks transparency, is interwoven with inconsistency and brings unlikely results.”
Komninos claimed that this approach is contrary to the DSA intention and leaves companies in the dark about how their fees are determined.
Tiktok, owned by a Chinese Fortant, reflected criticism. His lawyer, Bill Batchelor, said the fee deposited on the tiktok was not only inflated, but also unfairly penalized the platform for user behavior.
“What happened here is something other than reasonable,” Batchelor said. “The Commission method includes duplicate number of users, for example, when someone uses tiktok on the phone and laptop. This leads to overvaluation of active users and unfairly distorts a fee.”
He also claimed that the Commission had violated its legal limits by setting up a group of profits at the group level than for the finances of individual entities.
In response to the lawyer of the Commission Lorna Armati prevented the institution methodology. She said that when calculating the fee, it is logical to use consolidated accounts because the financial power of the whole group supports the ability of a subsidiary to observe regulatory costs.
“All providers have received enough information to understand the calculation process,” she said, denied any violation of rights or cases of uneven treatment of the company.
Legal challenges are part of two separate cases: T-55/24 META Platforms Ireland in the Commission and T-58/24 Tiktok Technology in Commission. In 2026, the final decision of the tribunal is expected.
(With Reuters inputs)
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