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EU Fines AliExpress Record €550M for Illegal Goods
20 Jul
Summary
- AliExpress faces a record €550 million fine from the EU.
- The fine is for failing to combat illegal and counterfeit sales.
- This is the EU's third fine under the Digital Services Act.
European Union regulators have imposed a record €550 million fine on Alibaba's AliExpress for failing to adequately tackle the sale of illegal, unsafe, and counterfeit products. This significant penalty, the third issued under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), targets very large online platforms for not doing enough to counter harmful content.
AliExpress was charged last year with not complying with a key DSA requirement to assess and mitigate risks from illegal product dissemination. The company must propose remedial measures by October 20, 2026. Failure to satisfy the regulator in December could lead to additional penalties.
The Commission criticized AliExpress's risk assessment, recommender systems, and ineffective penalty policies for exacerbating the spread of illegal items. The platform's mandatory 'brand authorization' system was also found to be easily circumvented. This fine is substantially larger than previous penalties levied against platforms like X and Temu for similar DSA violations. AliExpress had previously agreed to measures to address illegal and pornographic materials, potentially avoiding an even larger fine.
