AliExpress gets record €550m fine from EU for allowing sale of illegal products

AliExpress gets record €550m fine from EU for allowing sale of illegal productsImage source, NurPhoto / Getty ImagesImage caption, AliExpress has 193 million users in the EUByEmer MoreauBusiness reporterPublished7 minutes agoChinese 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 counterfeit clothes.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 European Commission said AliExpress fell short of its obligation under the Act to "diligently assess" the risk of illegal, unsafe or fake goods on its platform.The company said the fine was disproportionate and that it has made enhancements to its processes.The Commission's 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 weeksIt 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 fine is the third handed out under the Digital Services Act. The first two were given to Temu and X, and Shein is being investigated under the Act.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 fine is far short of that.Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's Executive Vice President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said that "scale is not an excuse" for selling dangerous or illegal goods."The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, dangerous cosmetics and other illegal and harmful pro...