The EU’s general court ruled on Wednesday that US tech giant Meta’s online marketplace for buying and selling secondhand items locally should no longer be designated under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), but maintained Facebook Messenger’s designation as a core platform service.

The Commission had designated Meta’s Facebook, Messenger and Marketplace services under the bloc’s DMA back in September 2023, meaning the three platforms must adhere to a set of upfront rules, including a ban on self referencing, limits on data use and interoperability requirements.

The court backed Meta’s arguments for quashing Facebook Marketplace’s DMA designation, saying the Commission had not taken into account changes implemented by the tech giant in July 2023 – including a limit on the number of listings a user can publish and criteria to limit business users posting on the marketplace in the EU.

Factors used by the Commission to designate Marketplace were hypothetical and incomplete, the court also said.

The ruling will, however, have limited impact as Commission had already removed Marketplace’s designation in April 2025 after Meta said it would deploy additional monitoring tools to curb business-to-consumer use of the marketplace.

The changes made by Meta resulted in fewer than 10,000 business users in the EU as of 2024, falling below the DMA’s threshold for designation.

Don’t shoot the messenger

In the case of Messenger, Meta had argued that the messaging app was not an important gateway between business and consumers – a precondition for DMA designation. But the court disagreed, also dismissing the tech giant’s argument that Messenger and the app’s linked social network – Facebook – are not distinct services for the purposes of DMA designation.

Instead, the court found that Messenger can be used independently of Facebook and that Meta promotes tools specifically for the service. As a result, Messenger can be regarded as a separate and standalone service under the DMA, it ruled.

The court also found that the Commission’s methodology for designating Messenger was correct, saying the service acts as an important gateway for businesses to reach users.

A Meta spokesperson said the company welcomed the court’s ruling on Marketplace, writing in a statement sent to Euractiv that it “confirms that it should not have been designated in the first place.”

Meta will “consider” its options regarding the finding on Messenger, it added.

(nl)