The European Commission in its 2019 decision said Google had abused its dominance to prevent websites from using brokers other than its AdSense platform that provided search adverts. The practices it said were illegal took place from 2006 to 2016.

The Luxembourg-based General Court mostly agreed with the European Union competition enforcer’s assessments of the case, but annulled the fine.

“The court upheld most of the commission’s assessments, but annulled the decision imposing a fine of almost €1.5 billion on Google, on the grounds in particular that it had failed to take into account all the relevant circumstances in its assessment of the duration of the contractual clauses that it had found to be unfair,” the judges said.

The AdSense fine, one of a trio of fines that have cost Google a total of €8.25 billion, was triggered by a complaint from Microsoft in 2010.

Google has said it changed the targeted contracts in 2016 before the Commission’s decision.

The company last week lost its final fight against a €2.42 billion fine levied for using its price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.

This is the second such investigation against the popular social media platform in recent months.

The Commission is concerned that TikTok may have violated the Digital Services Act (DSA) by failing to conduct a proper risk assessment before launching TikTok Lite. This assessment, required by the DSA, should have identified and mitigated potential risks associated with the platform, particularly those related to addiction and user safety.

The European Commission’s investigation focuses on three key areas related to the social platform’s launch of TikTok Lite with its “Task and Reward Program.” Firstly, the Commission wants to determine if TikTok failed to fulfil its obligation under the DSA. 

This obligation requires platforms to conduct a risk assessment and submit a report before launching any new features that could impact potential risks. In this case, the concern is that TikTok didn’t properly assess the risks associated with the “Task and Reward Program” on TikTok Lite.

Secondly, the investigation delves into the potential harm this program might cause, particularly to minors. The Commission is concerned that the program’s incentive structure, designed to encourage user engagement through rewards, could have addictive qualities. This raises worries about the potential negative impact on mental health, especially for younger users on the platform.

Finally, the investigation will examine the measures TikTok has taken, if any, to mitigate these potential risks. Of particular interest is whether TikTok has implemented sufficient safeguards considering the suspected shortcomings in their age verification mechanisms. If these mechanisms are inadequate, it could exacerbate the potential harm to young users.

If the investigation finds TikTok in violation of the DSA, the company could face fines of up to 1% of its global annual revenue. Additionally, the Commission may impose a temporary ban on the TikTok Lite reward program in the EU.

The Commission has requested that TikTok submit the missing risk assessment report and information about its mitigation measures by April 23rd and May 3rd, respectively. TikTok also has until April 24th to respond to the proposed suspension of the reward program.

The DSA, aimed at regulating online platforms, designated TikTok as a “Very Large Online Platform” in April 2023 due to its large user base within the EU. This designation comes with obligations related to risk management and user safety.

The current investigation builds upon an earlier proceeding launched in February 2024 which examined TikTok’s compliance with the DSA regarding data access, advertising transparency, and content moderation practices.