On October 14, 2026, the General Court of the European Union dismissed in full the action in Case T-134/24, Technius v Commission, against the European Commission's decision of December 20, 2023 designating Stripchat as a very large online platform under Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (the Digital Services Act). Press release No 146/26 records that Technius Ltd, which operates the adult entertainment platform Stripchat, stated in February 2023 an average monthly number of active recipients (AMAR) in the European Union of 31.8 million, while the Commission, using the same Similarweb data, found more than 62 million unique visitors, above the DSA threshold of 45 million.
EU online platform providers calculating average monthly active recipients near the 45 million threshold, adult entertainment platforms offering services to recipients in the EU, and providers of very large online platforms that report AMAR to the Commission under the DSA must immediately review average monthly active recipient calculations so they do not deduct bounced visits already filtered out of Similarweb unique-visitor figures, and treat the legality of a VLOP designation as fixed by the data available on the decision date, or a Commission designation as a very large online platform stands even if a later analytics correction puts the count below 45 million, with the stricter DSA transparency, risk-management and oversight duties that attached to that designation. Similarweb's unique-visitor figure already filters out a significant number of bounced visits, and a later correction of that methodology does not reopen legality assessed on the facts and law at the decision date.
What did Case T-134/24 decide on the AMAR calculation?
The General Court held that the Commission was entitled to rely on Similarweb's unique-visitor methodology and to set aside Stripchat's further deduction for bounced visits. A bounced visit is a visit in which the user enters a site and leaves without having been exposed to any content disseminated on that site.
The Commission used the same Similarweb data, set out its unique-visitor method, and explained why a second deduction artificially reduced active recipients in the European Union.
| Calculation | Treatment of bounced visits | Figure in the press release |
|---|---|---|
| Technius statement, February 2023 | Further reduction on top of Similarweb | 31.8 million AMAR |
| Commission decision of December 20, 2023 | Similarweb unique visitors, already filtered | More than 62 million |
| Similarweb correction after the decision | Revised unique-visitor methodology | 37.3 million for the relevant period |
Who is exposed by the 45 million threshold holding?
EU online platform providers whose AMAR sits near 45 million, adult entertainment platforms offering services to recipients in the EU, and VLOP providers that report AMAR under the DSA inherit the same measurement rule, as does any provider reporting under Article 24 or assessed under Article 33.
Article 33(4), as quoted in the press release, rests the designation on data reported under Article 24(2), information requested under Article 24(3), or any other information available to the Commission. Subtracting bounced visits a second time from a unique-visitor series is the method the Court rejected.
What must those providers change, and by when?
They must immediately stop deducting bounced visits that a unique-visitor series has already filtered out, and document a method that is reliable against the DSA definition of an active recipient. Legal certainty does not require a separate act prescribing one method: the operator chooses a reliable method, and the DSA gives enough guidance on active recipients.
They must also treat legality as fixed on the decision date. After December 20, 2023, Similarweb corrected its methodology, and the corrected figure for Stripchat's relevant period was 37.3 million, below 45 million. The Court held that this does not undermine the decision: neither the corrected data nor the new methodology fell, on the adoption date, within the categories in the last sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 33(4). The official text of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 is on EUR-Lex.
- Recompute AMAR from the unique-visitor series without a second bounced-visit deduction.
- Keep the working papers that show which filter already removed bounced visits.
- Align the figure reported under Article 24(2) with that method before an Article 24(3) request.
- Archive the data set that existed on any designation date: a later vendor correction is not a ground to treat the decision as unlawful.
Continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring surfaces a court ruling on a measurement method the moment the judgment is delivered.
What stands if a later correction falls below 45 million?
A designation the General Court will not annul because of a later analytics correction keeps the stricter DSA duties on transparency, risk management and oversight that attached to it. The press release states no fine for a miscalculated AMAR and sets no market-wide compliance date: the consequence it confirms is that the December 20, 2023 decision stands.
Technius may appeal to the Court of Justice on points of law only, within two months and ten days of notification of the decision. That window belongs to the applicant. It does not move the measurement rule for other providers, and it does not reopen the file on the basis of Similarweb's later correction.
Verify whether your AMAR method deducts bounced visits twice, check the data available on a designation date, and brief the team that reports recipient numbers to the Commission. Press release No 146/26 is unofficial and is not binding on the General Court.
