Record EU Fine
EU Fines AliExpress Record €550 Million Over Unsafe Products, DSA Violations
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Key Points
1
EU data show AliExpress had about 193 million monthly EU users by end-2025, with one in five Europeans saying they shop monthly on AliExpress, Temu and Shein.
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AliExpress's €550 million action is the third Digital Services Act penalty to date; Temu was fined €200 million earlier, and Shein is under an ongoing EU probe.
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The EU found AliExpress's brand authorisation system ineffective and that product compliance checks could be bypassed through misclassification of items.
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Moderation staffing was deemed insufficient, with moderators reportedly spending as little as 10–20 seconds on each potentially illegal product.
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The €550 million penalty is the largest ever issued under the Digital Services Act to date.
The European Commission has fined AliExpress €550 million — the largest penalty ever issued under the EU's Digital Services Act — for failing to stop illegal, unsafe, and counterfeit products from reaching European shoppers, according to Yahoo News. The DSA, the EU's landmark law regulating major online platforms, requires large platforms to actively identify and reduce harmful content and products.
AliExpress, owned by Chinese tech giant Alibaba, has around 193 million monthly users in the EU. MarketScreener reported the fine equals roughly $629 million. The platform now has until October 20, 2026 to submit a plan addressing the violations — or face further penalties.
Moderators Spent 10 Seconds Reviewing Dangerous Products
EU investigators found serious gaps in how AliExpress reviewed products flagged as potentially illegal. Moderators reportedly spent as little as 10 to 20 seconds on each item, according to Yahoo News. The Commission said the platform overestimated its own moderation capacity and did not employ enough human reviewers to do the job properly.
Investigators also found that AliExpress relied too heavily on a single moderation metric. Its brand authorisation system — meant to verify that sellers are legitimate — was deemed ineffective. Sellers could bypass product safety checks by simply misclassifying items. Unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics were among the products found still circulating on the platform.
Recommendation and Ad Systems Made Illegal Listings Spread Further
The EU's investigation went beyond listings themselves. The Commission found that AliExpress's recommendation and advertising systems may have actively amplified illegal content. In plain terms: the platform's own algorithm was pushing unsafe or counterfeit products to more users, according to Head Topics.
The Commission also said AliExpress failed to properly enforce its own internal penalty policy against rule-breaking sellers. That means sellers who repeatedly listed unsafe goods faced little consequence. The EU said these combined failures directly harmed European consumers.
AliExpress Joins Temu as EU Targets Chinese Marketplaces
This is only the third fine issued under the DSA since the law took effect. Temu, another major Chinese shopping platform, was fined €200 million earlier. Shein is currently under a separate EU probe, according to Benzinga. One in five Europeans now shops monthly on AliExpress, Temu, or Shein — a figure that has made regulators take notice.
The EU's move reflects a broader push to hold large platforms accountable under the DSA. With 193 million EU users, AliExpress qualifies as a "very large online platform" under the law. That status brings stricter obligations — and, clearly, larger fines when those obligations are not met.
AliExpress Has Until October to Offer a Fix
The Commission has given AliExpress a firm deadline. The platform must submit a detailed action plan by October 20, 2026, outlining exactly how it will fix the identified problems. If the plan is missing or insufficient, the EU can impose additional penalties on top of the €550 million already levied, according to Head Topics.
AliExpress has not yet publicly detailed its response to the ruling. The case sets a strong precedent. It shows the EU is willing to use the DSA's full force against major platforms — and that a large user base will not shield a company from record-breaking fines.
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