EU adviser urges court to reject ByteDance appeal over TikTok's gatekeeper status
Advocate General Andrea Biondi recommended on 15 October 2026 that the EU Court of Justice reject the examined grounds of ByteDance's challenge to TikTok's gatekeeper status under the DMA.
On 15 October 2026, Advocate General Andrea Biondi of the EU Court of Justice recommended that the court reject the examined grounds of ByteDance's appeal against a General Court judgment that upheld the European Commission's decision to designate TikTok as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The opinion is not binding, and the judges have not yet ruled. The case, C-627/24 P, is the first DMA case to reach the Court of Justice, according to Reuters.
What a gatekeeper is under the DMA
The Digital Markets Act is the EU's law to make digital markets fairer and more contestable. It sets objective criteria for identifying gatekeepers, which are large digital platforms that provide core services such as online search engines, app stores and messenger services.
Designated gatekeepers must follow obligations, meaning things they have to do, and observe prohibitions, meaning things they must not do. The European Commission is the sole enforcer of the Act, and a joint team within its competition and digital departments handles implementation.
The DMA complements EU competition rules without changing them, and those rules continue to apply in full.
ByteDance is challenging the Commission's decision to designate TikTok. According to Investing.com, that designation imposes strict obligations aimed at preventing anti-competitive practices. Designation is the step that brings a company under those obligations.
What the adviser said about the gatekeeper test
Under the DMA, a company that meets the Act's numerical thresholds is presumed to be a gatekeeper. According to a Court Cast summary of the opinion, Biondi said objections must seriously challenge that presumption. A company does not have to conclusively disprove its status at this preliminary stage.
Where substantiated arguments clearly call the presumption into question, the summary says Biondi considers a market investigation mandatory, unless it is already clear that the qualitative requirements are not met.
In practical terms, the opinion sets a bar below full disproof. Objections have to be serious, but they do not have to prove that the company is not a gatekeeper.
The thresholds give rise to a presumption that the company can challenge.
The gateway finding and the appeal
Biondi also addressed the Commission's finding that TikTok acts as a gateway between businesses and users, and he rejected the examined challenges to it. According to Reuters, users' use of competing social networks did not, by itself, undermine that conclusion.
On ByteDance's right to be heard, Biondi proposed different reasoning, while still recommending that the examined grounds be dismissed. Reuters reports he found the General Court made no legal errors of the kind ByteDance alleged in rejecting the gateway arguments.
ByteDance is appealing a General Court judgment that dismissed its challenge to the Commission's designation. The General Court is the EU's lower court, and according to Reuters it rejected ByteDance's action in 2024. Biondi endorsed that ruling.
The recommendation covers only the grounds of appeal Biondi examined, and it proposes that they be rejected. Reuters describes the appeal as the first DMA case to reach the EU's highest court.
“The opinion is not binding, and the judges have not yet ruled.”
What happens next and who is affected
As of 15 October 2026, the judges have not ruled. Reporting says they are expected to decide in the coming months. Reuters also reports that the judges follow non-binding Advocate General opinions in about four out of five cases. That is a general figure, not a forecast for this appeal.
The opinion does not end the appeal or impose a new penalty, according to Court Cast. If the Court follows it, TikTok would remain designated as a gatekeeper, and the arguments Biondi examined would fail.
The outcome determines whether TikTok stays under those obligations, which is the practical stake for the company.
Breaches of DMA obligations can draw fines of up to 10% of a company's annual global turnover, Reuters reports. Meta is separately challenging the gatekeeper designation of its Messenger and Marketplace services.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
