Zalando Sues EU Over Digital Content Rules — Retail Bum

Online shoe retailer Zalando is taking the European Commission to court for classifying it under the same category as Alphabet and Meta.

The company’s grievance is rooted in the fact that under the Digital Services Act (DSA), it was labeled as a very large online platform (VLOP) because it has more than 45 million users.

Some of the other 19 platforms put in the same bucket as Zalando include two of Alphabet’s businesses, two of Meta’s subsidiaries, and two of Microsoft, in addition to AliExpress and Twitter.

In its court filing with the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union, Zalando noted that the European Commission failed to account for the hybrid nature of its business, and it does not possess a systemic risk of disseminating illegal or harmful information from third parties. As such, DSA should not be applied to its retail business model, the company added.

“The European Commission misinterpreted our user numbers and failed to acknowledge our mainly retail business model. The number of European visitors who connect with our partners is far below the DSA’s threshold to be considered as a VLOP,” Zalando Chief Executive Officer Robert Gentz.

EU industry chief Thierry Breton, who came up with the list of 19 companies, however…