On 8 June 2023, Advocate General Szpunar at the Court of Justice issued an opinion in Case C-376/22 on the restriction of information society services through legislative measures brought before the court by Google, Meta, and Tik Tok against Komm Austria. Google, Meta, and Tik Tok are challenging Austria's application of the Austrian federal law on communication platforms, arguing it is incompatible with Directive 2000/31 on electronic commerce. The Advocate General noted that Directive 2000/31 generally prevents Member States from imposing stricter requirements than those of the Member State of origin. Further, derogations from the country-of-origin principle should be based on case-by-case measures, and a general provision applying to a category of services would fragment the internal market. The Advocate General concluded that Directive 2000/31 prevents a Member State from restricting the freedom to provide information society services from another Member State. The Advocate General's opinion is not binding on the Court of Justice.
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