EU imposes record €550 million fine on AliExpress for DSA breaches

The European Commission has imposed a €550 million (approximately $629 million) fine on AliExpress, marking the largest penalty enforced under the Digital Services Act (DSA) to date. The ruling addresses the platform’s failure to prevent the sale of illegal, unsafe, or counterfeit goods, specifically highlighting dangerous toys and cosmetics that remained available to consumers despite detection.

EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen stated that the proliferation of counterfeit clothing and hazardous items constituted a direct failure by AliExpress to comply with its obligations under the DSA. She emphasised that the platform’s size did not justify non-compliance, noting that “scale is not an excuse” and that risks must be identified and addressed systematically to ensure consumer safety.

The Commission’s investigation found that AliExpress allocated insufficient staff to verify products effectively. Furthermore, the regulator noted that the company failed to remove hazardous items for multiple weeks after they were detected, a delay that contributed to the severity of the breach. The ruling confirmed that the company did not take effective measures to reduce the dissemination of illegal products across its marketplace.

This enforcement action follows a similar precedent set in May, when rival Chinese retailer Temu was fined more than $230 million for comparable DSA infractions. The AliExpress penalty underscores the European Commission’s strict enforcement stance on e-commerce compliance and the financial consequences of inadequate content moderation and product safety checks.

AliExpress has been given until 20 October 2026 to remedy the breach. If the company fails to implement the required changes within this timeframe, it risks facing additional periodic fines. The decision reinforces the regulatory pressure on major online platforms to maintain rigorous standards for product safety and legal compliance within the European Union.