The European Commission has levied a €550 million fine against the Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress. The Brussels authority announced on Monday that the penalty was issued because the company failed to comply with several requirements under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Specifically, the platform was found to have neglected its duty to thoroughly assess and mitigate the risks associated with selling illegal, unsafe, or counterfeit goods on its online marketplace. The Commission determined that AliExpress failed in multiple respects to carefully evaluate the risk of these illicit products spreading through its services.
Investigations revealed several systemic failures. The platform did not allocate sufficient personnel to review potentially illegal products, and it overestimated the effectiveness of its internal system for identifying and removing unlawful items. Furthermore, AliExpress failed to adequately assess how its own recommendation and advertising systems exacerbated the dispersal of illegal products. The Commission observed that numerous illegal items were pushed to consumers through recommendations or advertisements before they could be effectively taken down.
Beyond these issues, AliExpress neglected to implement effective measures to lessen the risk posed by illicit product distribution. The Commission identified deficiencies in the detection system itself, as well as weaknesses in enforcing sanctions against vendors involved in selling illegal goods. Compounding these issues, product conformity checks on the platform proved to be easily bypassed, allowing non-compliant items to continue circulating among consumers.
EU Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen noted that the widespread distribution of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, dangerous cosmetics, and other harmful goods is “not an unavoidable price of online shopping-it is an inherent failure of AliExpress to comply with its obligations under the Digital Services Act.” She stressed that the size of the company could not serve as an excuse; risks must be systematically identified and addressed to ensure that consumers can shop safely online. “Today, we are holding AliExpress to this standard and are demanding the company take action,” she added.
The fine was calculated based on the nature, severity, and duration of the violations. AliExpress has been given until October 20, 2026, to submit an action plan detailing how it intends to correct the breaches.
