EU Fines AliExpress Record €550 Million for Failing to Stop Sale of Illegal Goods

The European Commission has imposed a record fine of €550 million on Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress for violating the Digital Services Act (DSA). The fine, which is the largest penalty imposed under the DSA, stems from AliExpress's failure to prevent the sale of illegal and counterfeit products on its platform.

The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, 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 Digital Services Act.

According to officials, AliExpress did not have sufficient staff to assess the legality of products, often giving them mere seconds to determine whether a product met EU standards. Furthermore, the company's internal risk assessments failed, allowing many illegal products to remain online for multiple weeks after detection. The platform's recommendation systems also promoted these products, putting consumers at risk.

The fine is a significant blow to AliExpress, which has been criticized for its lax approach to product safety. The European Commission has made it clear that scale is not an excuse for failing to address risks, and that companies must take effective measures to protect consumers. AliExpress has until October 20th to remedy the breach and avoid additional periodic fines.