# General Court Upholds Stripchat’s Earlier DSA Status > The General Court upholds Stripchat’s earlier VLOP designation and approves the method then used to calculate active users under the DSA. Source: https://www.mtrlegal.com/en/general-court-upholds-stripchat-earlier-dsa-status/ · Language: en · Updated: 2026-10-26 --- The [Gericht der Europäischen Union (EuG, General Court of the European Union)](https://curia.europa.eu/site/jcms/p1_1000088537) has dismissed the action brought by Stripchat’s operator against the platform’s earlier [designation](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/list-designated-vlops-and-vloses) as a very large online platform (EuG, judgment of 14 October 2026 – T-134/24, ECLI:EU:T:2026:670). The decisive question was whether, on the basis of the data available in December 2023, the European Commission was entitled to conclude that Stripchat had reached the threshold laid down in the Digital Services Act of an average of at least 45 million monthly active users in the European Union. ## Commission designated Stripchat as a very large platform By Decision C(2023) 8844 final of 20 December 2023, the European Commission designated Stripchat as a very large online platform pursuant to Article 33(4) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065. Such a designation entails additional obligations under the Digital Services Act, including in the areas of transparency, risk management and oversight. The operator, Technius Ltd, which is based in Limassol, Cyprus, brought an action against the decision on 29 February 2024. The proceedings, which were conducted in English, were based on six pleas in law. ### Divergent figures for the number of active users Technius had reported approximately 31.8 million monthly active users in the European Union for February 2023. The Commission considered this figure insufficiently reliable and, using data from the analytics service Similarweb, arrived at a figure of more than 62 million users. The discrepancy was attributable in particular to the treatment of so-called bounce visits. These are visits during which users leave a website without engaging more closely with the content provided there. Technius had deducted an estimated bounce rate of approximately 49 per cent from the Similarweb data. ## General Court upholds Commission’s basis of calculation The General Court did not object to the Commission’s use of the unique visitor metric reported by Similarweb. That metric was already based on a calculation method incorporating a filter to account for bounce visits. According to the judgment, an additional deduction of the estimated bounce rate was therefore unnecessary. The Commission was entitled to reject Technius’s calculation method and base its assessment on the Similarweb data available at the time. ### Subsequent correction not taken into account Similarweb changed its calculation method in 2024. Under the corrected calculation, Stripchat had only approximately 37.3 million monthly active users during the relevant period and therefore fell below the threshold of 45 million. In the General Court’s view, this subsequent development did not render the contested decision unlawful. The lawfulness of an EU act must be assessed on the basis of the factual and legal circumstances existing at the time of its adoption. The subsequently amended calculation method was not yet available to the Commission when it adopted its decision on 20 December 2023. ## DSA was not required to contain a fixed calculation formula Technius further argued that the designation infringed the [principle of legal certainty](https://www.mtrlegal.com/wiki/rechtssicherheit/). The [Digital Services Act](https://www.mtrlegal.com/wiki/digital-services-act/) does not prescribe a specific method for determining the average number of monthly users. The General Court also rejected this objection. In its assessment, the principle of legal certainty does not require legislation to resolve every possible question of interpretation or prescribe a specific calculation formula. ### Concept of an active user provides sufficient guidance According to the judgment, the Digital Services Act contains sufficient criteria to enable platform operators to make a reliable determination. Active users are persons who either interact with the platform or are exposed to the information provided on it. In the absence of a binding prescribed calculation method, it is for the provider concerned to select a reliable approach. The designation was therefore not unlawful solely because no separate legal act had been adopted to establish a uniform calculation method. ## Earlier designation has since ended The additional obligations for Stripchat first became applicable at the end of April 2024, four months after the designation in December 2023. By decision of 27 May 2025, the Commission terminated the platform’s designation as a very large online platform. The specific obligations associated with that designation ended four months later. Nevertheless, Technius maintained its action in order to have the lawfulness of the designation reviewed for the period during which it was in force. In this respect, the General Court found that Technius retained an interest in bringing proceedings. The judgment therefore does not mean that Stripchat is currently still designated as a very large online platform. ## Costs decision and further course of proceedings The Seventh Chamber of the General Court, sitting in an extended composition of five judges, dismissed the action and ordered Technius to bear its own costs and those incurred by the European Commission. The Commission was supported in the proceedings by several interveners: - The Federal Republic of Germany shall bear its own costs. - The European Parliament shall bear its own costs. - The Council of the European Union shall bear its own costs. - Stichting Article 19 shall bear its own costs. An appeal limited to points of law may be brought against the judgment before the Gerichtshof der Europäischen Union (Court of Justice of the European Union) within the applicable time limit. ## Significance for digital platform operators The decision makes clear that user numbers for a designation under the Digital Services Act must be determined using a transparent and reliable method. At the same time, judicial review of a Commission decision is generally based on the information and circumstances available to the authority at the time of its decision. For companies, the classification of their services, the determination of active users and the associated obligations may have considerable regulatory significance. MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte advises clients on matters relating to the Digital Services Act and other regulatory requirements for digital business models. Further information is available under [IT law advice](https://www.mtrlegal.com/rechtsberatung/it-recht/).