Brussels accepts Temu's plan to stop the sale of illegal products on its platform

The European Commission has accepted Temu's "action plan" to correct the failures in risk assessment that allowed the sale of illegal products on its digital platform. This behavior motivated Brussels in May to impose a 200 million fine on the Chinese e-commerce giant for not complying with the obligations for large internet platforms established by the digital services regulation (known as DSA).

Temu's action plan, which does not cancel the fine, consists of five corrective measures. On the one hand, the platform undertakes to carry out a risk assessment adapted to its service, using “reliable and up-to-date information” that allows it to identify “specific risks” related to the design, operation and use of the platform. In addition, it will use “reliable metrics and indicators” to evaluate whether the mitigation measures adopted are effective in stopping the spread of illegal content. An analysis carried out by the Commission revealed that there was a risk of finding products such as toys or small appliances on the platform that did not comply with European standards.

According to its action plan, the platform will also “evaluate the limitations of its proactive content moderation” and analyze whether and how its recommendation systems and algorithms can “influence and potentially amplify” the spread of illegal products in its market.

Finally, Brussels notes, Temu will examine the influence of “intentional manipulation and amplification” of illegal items, including cases in which sellers take advantage of Temu functions to spread potentially illegal advertisements.

In May, Temu became the second digital platform, after Elon Musk's

A year and a half after opening a file against him, at the end of May, the Commission announced the fine of 200 million “for not identifying, analyzing and evaluating with due diligence the systemic risks” involved in the sale of “illegal products on its platform, nor the resulting harm to consumers” in the EU. “The evidence available to the Commission indicates that it is very likely that EU consumers will encounter illegal items in Temu,” said the Executive, which gave Temu until August 28 to present an “action plan” to correct the situation, something that Brussels has now validated.

However, the Commission has warned that it has not finished the process against a platform that Brussels is also targeting due to the effectiveness of its mitigation measures, the use of addictive design elements, the transparency of its recommendation systems and access to data by researchers. In the case now being resolved, the European Executive emphasizes that Temu now has four months to carry out an “interim” risk assessment covering a period of six months, until November 30, 2026, in order to guarantee the application of the measures of the action plan.

Temu also undertakes to submit the corrective measures to an “external and independent” audit, the results of which will be delivered to the Commission within four months of the implementation of the measures. If the auditor makes recommendations, he will have one month to report on their implementation, adds Brussels, which assures that it will closely monitor the entire process.