(CN) - Meta punched a hole in Europe's effort to rein in Big Tech on Wednesday, convincing judges that Facebook Marketplace was wrongly swept into the bloc's gatekeeper law even as Messenger remained firmly governed by the regulations.
The U.S. tech giant had asked the General Court of the European Union to overturn parts of a 2023 European Commission decision that brought both services under the Digital Markets Act, the EU's flagship law for policing the power of the world's largest technology companies. Meta won on Marketplace and lost on Messenger.
Under the DMA, companies such as Meta, Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and ByteDance can face special obligations if regulators determine they control key routes through which businesses reach consumers online. For messaging apps, that can include being required to connect with rival services.
Meta argues that Messenger is not a standalone platform at all but simply Facebook's built-in chat feature. Judges disagreed, pointing to Messenger's dedicated mobile app, its ability to function independently of Facebook and Meta's own treatment of the service as a separate business. As the judges put it, "Meta designed, presented and positioned Messenger as an autonomous service, going beyond a mere chat functionality of Facebook."
The company also insists Messenger is not an especially important channel for businesses because customers are more commonly reached by email and telephone. Judges were unconvinced, noting Messenger comfortably exceeds the act's user thresholds and offers businesses tools specifically designed to communicate with consumers.
Marketplace, however, proved a much easier sell for Meta.
The corporation's argument is essentially that regulators were describing a version of the service that no longer exists. After changes introduced in July 2023 shut off direct Marketplace listings for many businesses and steered them toward paid ads, the service looks far less like a traditional online marketplace connecting sellers and consumers.
Judges found the European Commission never properly grappled with that shift. Instead, it relied heavily on Marketplace's earlier growth and usage figures without adequately explaining why the service still satisfied the legal criteria after Meta's changes. That omission proved fatal to the designation.
Friso Bostoen, an assistant professor of competition law and digital regulation at Tilburg University, said Meta faced long odds on its messaging service from the start.
"Meta was always fighting an uphill battle when it comes to the designation of Messenger," he said, adding that the court showed little appetite for the competition-law style analysis Meta had urged it to adopt, even though messaging services sit somewhat awkwardly within a law aimed at digital gatekeepers.
Marketplace was another matter. "The issue was procedural but it feels like the right outcome: When gatekeepers make a good-faith effort to bring their business in line with - or indeed outside of - the DMA, that should be credited," Bostoen said.
For consumer groups, the real win was Messenger.
Sebastien Pant, senior officer for competition and digital enforcement at the European Consumer Organisation, known by its French acronym BEUC, welcomed the court's decision to keep Messenger within the DMA.
"Meta's appeal is straight out of the gatekeeper playbook. In seeking to challenge almost every EU decision, Meta is trying to delay and frustrate the application of the Digital Markets Act to its services," Pant said.
"Consumers' interests are best served by the DMA applying to all the platforms that are gateways to digital markets. That has to include Meta's Facebook or Messenger. It is good news that the court found Messenger to be a core platform service," Pant said. "Instead of trying to weave out of the DMA from applying to its services, gatekeepers such as Meta should be dedicating their resources to complying in full with the law. That is what will serve consumers' interests and those of the market."
Each side quickly seized on the half of the ruling it liked.
"We welcome the court's judgment on Marketplace, which confirms that it should not have been designated in the first place," a Meta spokesperson said. "We are reviewing the court's finding on Messenger and will consider our options."
A commission spokesperson called the judgment "an important step for the enforcement of the DMA" and said Meta must continue working toward interoperability between Messenger and rival messaging services. The spokesperson added that the Marketplace ruling has limited practical consequences because regulators had already removed the service's designation in April 2025 after concluding it no longer met the required business-user threshold.
Meta now has two months and 10 days to ask the Court of Justice of the European Union to review the judgment on points of law. Until then, the scoreboard reads one win apiece: Messenger stays inside the DMA, Marketplace is out.
Courthouse News reporter Eunseo Hong is based in the Netherlands.
Source: Courthouse News Service
