
A lawsuit filed by TikTok parent ByteDance against Tencent Holdings over alleged monopoly practices has been accepted by a court in Beijing, a move that experts said could become a “landmark” case as authorities ramp up antitrust efforts, reported South China Morning Post.
ByteDance says Tencent was restricting access to content from Douyin, the domestic version of TikTok, on its WeChat and QQ messaging platforms, and abusing its dominant position in the market. While Douyin had 600 million daily active users as of August last year, WeChat had more than 1.1 billion monthly active users worldwide as of January, the vast majority of them in China.
The Beijing Intellectual Property Court started proceedings on Sunday, a ByteDance representative said. The company is seeking 90 million yuan (US$14 million) in compensation.
China’s internet giants have fought several legal battles over monopolistic practices over the years. In fact, ByteDance sued Tencent over the Douyin link restriction in 2019 as well. But its latest lawsuit is the first case since Beijing started tightening antitrust regulations on its “platform economy” late last year.
Featured News
UK Business Secretary Calls for More Agile Competition Regulator
Feb 13, 2025 by
CPI
Germany’s Antitrust Regulator Raises Concerns Over Apple’s App Tracking Policies
Feb 13, 2025 by
CPI
$60 Billion Nissan-Honda Merger Falls Apart
Feb 13, 2025 by
CPI
DOJ Moves to End Protections for Three Regulatory Agencies
Feb 13, 2025 by
CPI
Meta to Allow Rivals to List Ads on Facebook Marketplace Following EU Fine
Feb 13, 2025 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – International Criminal Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
CPI
The Antitrust Division’s Recent Work to Combat International Cartels
Jan 23, 2025 by
Emma Burnham & Benjamin Christenson
Information Sharing: The New Frontier of U.S. Antitrust Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
Brian P. Quinn, Casey Kovarik & Michael Tubach
The Key Role of Guidelines on Exchanges of Information Among Competitors and the Divergent Transatlantic Paths
Jan 23, 2025 by
Rosa Abrantes-Metz & Albert Metz
Leniency, Whistleblowers, and Compliance
Jan 23, 2025 by
Richard Powers, Tara O’Malley & Cory Gordon