EU fines AliExpress €550 million in largest Digital Services Act penalty yet

The European Commission has fined AliExpress €550 million for breaching the Digital Services Act, concluding that the marketplace failed to take adequate measures against the sale of illegal products on its platform. It is the highest fine the Commission has imposed under the DSA so far.

As a designated "very large online platform," AliExpress is required under the DSA to assess and mitigate the risk that illegal products spread through its service. According to the Commission, it fell short on both counts.

The central finding is over-reliance on automation. The Commission says AliExpress leaned heavily on an automated moderation system without properly evaluating how well that system actually detected illegal listings. Because the company never measured the gap, it kept too few human moderators to catch what the software missed.

And the software missed a lot, according to the decision. Counterfeit goods, unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics slipped past detection. Even when the system did flag illegal products, they often remained online for weeks. Sellers could also evade the checks entirely by listing illegal products in categories subject to lighter moderation rules.

AliExpress disputes the decision. The company said it disagrees with what it calls a disproportionate fine, arguing that it has invested significant resources in risk assessment and mitigation, product safety and consumer protection since the DSA took effect. It says it has cooperated constructively with the Commission, made voluntary commitments along the way, and is now studying the decision and considering all available options.

The penalty is the second major DSA fine against a Chinese-owned marketplace this year. In May, the Commission fined Temu €200 million for the same failure to keep illegal products off its platform.

AliExpress has until October 20 to submit an action plan setting out the measures it will take to address the violations. If the Commission approves the plan, it will set a deadline for implementation. Brussels has warned that further penalties can follow if AliExpress does not comply.