The EU's General Court has ruled against Meta in its challenge to the European Commission's decision to designate the Messenger service as a digital "gatekeeper" under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Meta had contested the Commission's classification, which subjects Messenger to the DMA's strictest obligations reserved for the largest digital platforms operating in the EU single market. The court dismissed the challenge, leaving the gatekeeper designation in force.

The designation carries significant consequences. Under the DMA, gatekeepers must comply with obligations including interoperability requirements and restrictions on combining personal data across services. For Messenger specifically, the label means Meta must make the service interoperable with rival messaging platforms and faces limits on how it uses user data collected through the app in connection with its other services, such as Facebook and Instagram.

For practitioners, the ruling reinforces the durability of Commission designations under the DMA framework. Companies seeking to challenge gatekeeper status before the EU courts now face a precedent showing that such designations are difficult to overturn. Legal advisers to large platform operators should treat DMA compliance obligations as a stable regulatory baseline rather than a provisional status subject to successful judicial review.

The decision forms part of a broader pattern of EU regulatory action targeting Meta. The company remains entangled in multiple legal and procedural battles with Brussels over the DMA, which empowers the Commission to police the conduct of the biggest technology firms and impose fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover for violations.

Meta can still appeal the ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the bloc's highest court. An appeal would further prolong a legal contest that began when the Commission first moved to expand its gatekeeper list to capture Meta's messaging service alongside its social network operations.