Amazon has kicked off a legal challenge against the EU’s new Big Tech rules, accusing Brussels of “discriminatory” treatment.
The online giant has filed a petition at the Court of Justice in Luxembourg claiming has been wrongly categorized under the bloc’s Digital Services Act.
The legal challenge makes Amazon the first Silicon Valley company to formally oppose the new rules.
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Under the Digital Services Act, major tech companies worldwide must adhere to stringent regulations mandating the removal of disinformation, illegal content, and the safeguarding of children.
Failure to follow these rules could lead to potentially billions of pounds in fines.
Back in April the EU said 19 tech companies with more than 45m users in Europe would fall under the rules, including Google, Apple and Facebook.
The rules largely target social media, advertising and internet search tools and are scheduled to come into force on August 25.
While Amazon is primarily an online retailer, it has been included as it sells advertising and has user-generated reviews on its site.
In a filing on Tuesday, the company argued it had been wrongly classified as a “very large online platform”.
An Amazon spokesman said: “The Digital Services Act was designed to address systemic risks posed by very large companies with advertising as their primary revenue and that distribute speech and information.
“We agree with the [European Commission’s] objective… but Amazon doesn’t fit this description of a ‘very large online platform’.”
Amazon said the designation was “based on a discriminatory criterion”.
The company argued that many other major retailers have not fallen under the new laws, despite having large numbers of online customers.
Lawyers for Amazon also argued the company is primarily a retailer, rather than a social media company or a search engine.
Amazon’s spokesman said that the “vast majority of our revenue comes from our retail business” and that it faced being “unfairly singled out and forced to meet onerous administrative obligations that don’t benefit EU consumers”.
Google’s online shopping division and German online retailer Zalando will also be regulated under the new laws, although Zalando has already issued a similar challenge to the EU rules.
The laws also demand that online stores remove rogue traders and randomly check for counterfeit goods.
In response, a European Commission spokesman said: “We take note of the decision of Amazon. We have no comment.
“The scope of the Digital Services Act is very clear and is defined to cover all platforms that expose their users to content, including the sale of products or services, which can be illegal.
“We will defend our position in court.”
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