AliExpress fined record €550m by EU for illegal product sales
L'essentiel
AliExpress has been fined a record €550m by the EU for failing to prevent the sale of illegal products like unsafe toys and fake clothes on its platform, a decision AliExpress calls "disproportionate" and plans to appeal.
Résumé généré par IA
Pourquoi c'est important
The EU's Digital Services Act mandates tech giants to counter illegal and harmful content, with AliExpress found to have failed its obligations to assess risks and enforce penalties.
Chinese online retail giant AliExpress has been fined a record €550m (£467m) by the EU for allowing the sale of illegal products such as unsafe toys and fake clothes.
The European Commission said AliExpress has fallen short of its legal obligations "diligently assess" the risk of illegal, unsafe or fake goods on its platform.
"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," said EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen.
AliExpress said the fine was "disproportionate" and that it would appeal.
The two-year investigation found that AliExpress's detection systems "did not work properly", with many illegal products not flagged while others that were identified remained on the site for several weeks.
The European Commission also found the company did not properly enforce penalties on traders selling illegal goods.
Furthermore, its product compliance checks could be "easily circumvented".
AliExpress, which is owned by the Chinese tech conglomerate Alibaba, has 193 million users in Europe, more than fellow Chinese online retailers Shein or Temu.
The penalty is the highest fine imposed under the Digital Services Act, which requires tech giants to do more to counter illegal and harmful content.
The act allows for fines of up to 6% of a company's revenue, but as Alibaba had a global turnover of €122bn last year, the penalty is far short of that.
AliExpress said it was surprised by and disagreed with the EU's decision.
"AliExpress has been and continues to be committed to meeting our obligations to consumers. We invest substantial resources in risk assessment and mitigation, product safety and consumer protection," it said.
"Today's decision and disproportionate fine ignores our sound risk management framework and the significant, proactive enhancements we have made. We will appeal the decision."
Under the EU's ruling, the company has to pay the penalty and present a plan by 20 October that includes what action it will take to tackle the breaches.
Earlier this year, Temu was given a €200m fine for allowing the sale of illegal products such as dangerous baby toys.
À surveiller
Perspective IA — des possibilités, pas des certitudes
AliExpress will appeal the EU's decision regarding the €550m fine.
Très probable · En quelques semaines
AliExpress will present a plan to tackle breaches by October 20.
Très probable · En quelques mois
Questions ouvertes
- What specific actions will AliExpress include in its compliance plan?
- How will AliExpress's appeal proceed and what is its likelihood of success?
- Will this fine lead to increased scrutiny for other online retailers in Europe?
