- European Commission fined AliExpress a record €550 million for failing to adequately assess and mitigate risks linked to the sale of illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products on its e-commerce platform.
- The Commission found that AliExpress failed to establish an effective system to detect and remove illegal products, while underestimating the gap between the number of human moderators available and the scale of their workload.
- AliExpress's product compliance checks were found to be vulnerable to abuse, with malicious traders allegedly misclassifying products to exploit less stringent requirements.
- Despite moderation efforts, large volumes of illegal products – including unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics – continued to circulate on AliExpress, sometimes remaining online for weeks after being flagged.
- The Commission also found that AliExpress failed to properly enforce its penalty policy, allowing stores selling illegal products to remain active on the platform even after receiving sanctions.
- AliExpress has until 20 October 2026 to submit an action plan outlining how it will address the Commission’s concerns.
- AliExpress condemned the fine as disproportionate and stated it would appeal the decision.
- The fine is the highest imposed under the Digital Services Act, which requires tech giants to do more to counter illegal and harmful content.
The European Commission has fined AliExpress €550 million for failing to effectively manage the sale of illegal and counterfeit goods on its platform. The fine, the largest under the Digital Services Act, highlights significant shortcomings in AliExpress's risk assessment and product compliance systems.1
The Commission's investigation revealed that AliExpress did not have sufficient staff to monitor product legality, often giving moderators only “tens of seconds” to evaluate products. This led to many illegal items, including unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics, remaining available for weeks after being flagged.
AliExpress's brand authorization system, intended to prevent counterfeit sales, was deemed ineffective, allowing sellers to bypass safeguards. The Commission noted that the platform's compliance checks were vulnerable to abuse, with malicious traders misclassifying products to exploit less stringent requirements.
EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen stated, “The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, dangerous cosmetics and other illegal and harmful products is not an unavoidable cost of shopping online – it is a failure by AliExpress to comply with its obligations.” Despite the fine, AliExpress plans to appeal, arguing that the penalty is “disproportionate” and does not reflect its efforts to enhance compliance measures.7
The company has until October 20, 2026 to submit a plan addressing the Commission's concerns, with potential for further penalties if compliance is not met.
The fine is significantly higher than previous penalties issued under the DSA, including €200 million for Temu and €120 million for X, both for similar violations.
“The €550m penalty is the largest imposed under the Digital Services Act, surpassing the €120m fine on X and the €200m fine on Temu. AliExpress called the fine disproportionate and said it will appeal, while the Commission requires an action plan by October 20.”
Euronews.com
The Guardian
