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Indonesia Antitrust Agency Grants Conditional Approval for TikTok’s Tokopedia Acquisition

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Indonesia’s antitrust authority, the KPPU, has given a conditional green light to TikTok’s $840 million acquisition of a 75.01% stake in Tokopedia, the country’s largest e-commerce platform. The deal, completed in January 2024, was previously scrutinized for potential monopoly risks.

The KPPU’s approval comes after TikTok and Tokopedia agreed to meet several conditions designed to safeguard fair competition. These include maintaining open access to payment and logistics services and prohibiting predatory pricing practices that could harm market fairness.

During its probe, the agency had flagged concerns over increased market concentration and the possibility of post-acquisition price hikes due to TikTok’s dominant position. The conditions aim to mitigate these risks and promote a balanced digital marketplace.

TikTok expressed respect for the KPPU’s decision and reiterated its commitment to fair competition principles. The KPPU will continue monitoring compliance with the conditions until June 17, 2027, retaining authority to impose sanctions if violations occur.

Amazon Challenges EU’s ‘Very Large Online Platform’ Label, Citing Lack of Systemic Risk

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Amazon has asked Europe’s General Court in Luxembourg to overturn its designation as a “very large online platform” (VLOP) under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The U.S. e-commerce giant argues that it does not pose systemic risks to users that would justify the stricter regulatory requirements imposed by the label.

The DSA, which came into force in 2022, targets large tech companies, requiring those classified as VLOPs to implement enhanced measures to combat illegal and harmful content. These measures include comprehensive risk management, independent auditing, and data sharing with regulators and researchers.

Amazon’s legal counsel, Robert Spano, told the court that online marketplaces like Amazon’s store do not create systemic risks, and that VLOP rules are ineffective in preventing the spread of illegal or counterfeit goods on such platforms. He emphasized that any risks are limited to individual customers rather than the platform’s entire user base, and existing product safety laws already address these issues.

Spano criticized the use of size as a metric for risk, describing it as “arbitrary, disproportionate and discriminatory.”

The court is expected to deliver its verdict in the coming months.

Other major tech companies, including Meta Platforms, TikTok, and German retailer Zalando, have also contested aspects of the DSA.

Meta and TikTok Challenge EU Tech Supervisory Fees at General Court

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Meta Platforms and TikTok have taken their dispute over the European Union’s supervisory fees to the EU General Court, the bloc’s second highest judicial authority. Both companies argue that the fees imposed under the 2022 Digital Services Act (DSA) are disproportionate and based on flawed calculations.

The DSA requires large online platforms, including Meta, TikTok, and 16 other firms, to pay an annual supervisory fee of 0.05% of their global net income. This fee is intended to cover the European Commission’s costs for monitoring compliance with the law. The fee’s size depends on each company’s average monthly active users and their profit or loss status in the previous year.

Meta questioned the methodology used by the Commission, saying it unfairly applied group-level revenue rather than that of the subsidiary. Meta’s lawyer, Assimakis Komninos, criticized the fee’s calculation as opaque and inconsistent with the DSA’s principles, describing it as a “black box” that led to “implausible and absurd results.”

TikTok, owned by ByteDance, echoed these concerns. TikTok’s lawyer Bill Batchelor accused the Commission of inflating fees through double-counting users who access the platform on multiple devices and argued that the fee exceeded legal limits by referencing group profits rather than individual entities.

The European Commission defended its approach. Commission lawyer Lorna Armati said using consolidated group profits was justified, as the group’s total financial resources are available to pay the fee. She also rejected claims of insufficient transparency or unfair treatment.

The court is expected to deliver its ruling on these cases, Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission and TikTok Technology v Commission, next year.