The European Commission has fined Chinese retail giant AliExpress a record €550m (£467m) for allowing the sale of illegal products including unsafe toys and counterfeit clothes – the heaviest penalty yet under the EU’s Digital Services Act.
The two-year investigation found that the company’s detection systems “did not work properly”, with many illegal products never flagged and others that were identified remaining on the site for weeks. The commission also said AliExpress failed to enforce penalties on traders selling illicit goods, and its product compliance checks could be “easily circumvented”.
“EU fines AliExpress record €550m for allowing unsafe toys and counterfeit clothes on its platform.”
“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,” said EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen.
AliExpress, which is owned by Chinese tech conglomerate Alibaba and has 193 million users in Europe – more than rivals Shein or Temu – reacted with surprise. In a statement it called the fine “disproportionate” and said it would appeal.
“AliExpress has been and continues to be committed to meeting our obligations to consumers. We invest substantial resources in risk assessment and mitigation, product safety and consumer protection,” the company said. “Today’s decision and disproportionate fine ignores our sound risk management framework and the significant, proactive enhancements we have made. We will appeal the decision.”
The penalty is the largest imposed under the Digital Services Act, which requires tech giants to do more to counter illegal and harmful content. The act allows fines of up to 6% of a company’s revenue, but with Alibaba reporting a global turnover of €122bn last year, the fine is far short of that ceiling.
Under the ruling, AliExpress must pay the penalty and submit a plan by 20 October detailing the steps it will take to address the breaches.
The fine comes after the EU hit fellow Chinese online retailer Temu with a €200m penalty earlier this year for similar violations, including dangerous baby toys. Elon Musk’s X was also fined €120m last year for deceptive use of blue tick badges, which the commission said exposed users to scams by not “meaningfully verifying” account holders.