EUROPEAN COMMISSION FINES ALIEXPRESS €550 MILLION OVER ILLEGAL PRODUCTS

The European Commission fined AliExpress €550 million (approximately $629 million) for breaching the Digital Services Act by failing to prevent counterfeit, unsafe and illegal products from being sold on its platform. Investigators found millions of counterfeit items, unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics available for sale. The commission determined that AliExpress allocated insufficient staff to verify products, with some employees given only tens of seconds to assess whether items met EU standards. The fine represents the largest penalty imposed under the DSA to date.

The EC opened an investigation into AliExpress in March 2024 following suspected DSA breaches involving the platform's advertising and recommendation systems. Investigators noted that unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics remained on sale for multiple weeks after being detected and flagged. Henna Virkkunen, the EC's Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, stated that scale was not an excuse for failing to identify and address risks systematically. AliExpress disputed the fine, describing it as disproportionate, though the platform said it was reviewing the decision and considering available options.

The fine follows an earlier €200 million penalty imposed on rival Chinese retailer Temu in May for similar DSA violations. AliExpress has until 20 October 2026 to remedy the breach, with the EC warning that the platform risks facing additional periodic fines if it fails to comply. The enforcement reflects the EU's effort to hold large online platforms accountable for controlling illegal content and protecting consumer safety across the bloc.