Amazon tells court it shouldn't have to police its platforms for hate speech and disinformation

• Amazon has filed a petition with an EU court challenging its upcoming Digital Services Act.
• The retail giant asked the court to annul its designation as a "very large online platform."

Amazon has become the first US company to challenge the European Union's upcoming laws on online disinformation.

The online retail giant filed a petition to the general court in Luxembourg on Tuesday, in relation to rules on tackling disinformation, the Financial Times first reported.

The EU's Digital Services Act — which comes into force on August 25 — is a wide-ranging set of regulations designed to regulate big tech companies.

19 companies have been designated as "very large online platforms" or "very large online search engines" because they reach at least 45 million monthly active users.

And this means they will have extra obligations, including being required to tackle online hate speech and disinformation.

Amazon has asked the court to annul its designation as a "very large online platform" (VLOP) under the act, according to a summary of the petition viewed by Insider.

That's primarily because Amazon says some of these rules shouldn't apply to it as an online retailer — rather than a social network or search engine — and that other large retailers in the EU haven't received the same designation.

"The DSA was designed to address systemic risks posed by very large companies with advertising as their primary revenue and that distribute speech and information," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement shared with Insider.

"We agree with the EC's objective and are committed to protecting customers from illegal products and content, but Amazon doesn't fit this description of a 'Very Large Online Platform' (VLOP) under the DSA and therefore should not be designated as such.

"The vast majority of our revenue comes from our retail business, we are not the largest retailer in any of the EU countries where we operate, and none of these largest retailers in each European country has been designated as a VLOP," it added.

The European Commission declined to comment on Amazon's decision specifically, but a spokesperson said: "the designated platforms and search engines will need to adapt their systems, resources, and processes for compliance, set up an independent system of compliance. They also need to complete the first annual risk assessment exercise to examine risks such as how illegal content might be disseminated through their service, how their services might pose a risk to fundamental rights, civic discourse, and public health, amongst others.

"That being said, not all platforms are the same and therefore they would not pose the same risks, neither they would be required to take the same risk mitigation measures: social media platforms are of course very different from marketplaces."