European Commission fines AliExpress €550 million for breaching Digital Services Act

The European Commission on Monday has fined Chinese online marketplace AliExpress €550 million for failing to assess and reduce risks related to the sale of illegal, unsafe, and counterfeit products on its platform, making it one of the largest penalties ever issued under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). In commenting on AliExpress’ non-compliance with its statutory responsibilities, Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy 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 under the DSA. Scale is not an excuse; risks must be identified and addressed systematically to ensure consumers can safely shop online. Today, we are holding AliExpress to this standard and request it to take action.” The DSA requires platforms with more than 45 million monthly users in the EU to identify and lessen systemic risks, including the spread of illegal content and goods. Under the law, marketplaces are also mandated to conduct the necessary verifications into the information of sellers and make reasonable efforts to authenticate the products sold on their services. Companies found in breach can face penalties of up to 6 percent of their total worldwide annual turnover. The Commission has stated that its investigation found that AliExpress did not take adequate measures to prevent the sale of prohibited items, such as counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, and hazardous cosmetics. Flagged products sometimes remained available for weeks after identification, and the company’s brand authorization verification system was not sophisticated enough to prevent counterfeit listings. AliExpress was also found to not enforce required penalties effectively, which permitted sanctioned sellers to continue operating. AliExpress has been urged to submit a remediation plan by October 20, 2026, to address the issues identified by the Commission. This fine surpasses the €200 million penalty the Commission imposed on Temu in May for similar failures under the DSA. This latest development is part of a string of measures by the European Commission to ensure that major tech platforms and e-commerce giants do not abuse their dominant market positions to stifle competition, effectively promoting the longevity of the Single Market Policy. The Single Market Policy is a cornerstone of the EU’s economy and allows goods, services, capital and people to move freely across all 27 member states.