TikTok appealed to the European Union Court of Justice to remove its designation as a "gatekeeper" under the bloc's Digital Markets Act, according to a Tuesday press release.
The video-sharing app obtained the designation in 2023 alongside other companies that have more than 45 million monthly views, according to Reuters.
TikTok sought to challenge the designation, saying it has not yet reached the threshold, but a lower court dismissed the case, saying it met the criteria for "gatekeeper" status.
During the hearing, ByteDance lawyer Bill Batchelor said the lower court erred in the case, arguing that TikTok did not gain significant market impact, did not act as a business gateway, and did not hold an entrenched market position.
TikTok said up to 80% of its users use other platforms in parallel in a practice called "multihoming" and are not locked in to the app, the lawyer said.
However, a European Commission lawyer negated TikTok's arguments, saying lock-in has occurred despite some level of multihoming.
The EU Court of Justice will rule on the case in the coming months, Reuters said.