Record fine for AliExpress: violated EU laws, to pay €550 million

The European Union imposed a €550 million fine on AliExpress for violating the Digital Services Act, ruling that it failed to prevent the sale of dangerous and counterfeit products. The company plans to appeal.

The European Union imposed a record fine of €550 million (approximately NIS 2.2 billion) on the Chinese shopping platform AliExpress, after determining that it violated the Digital Services Act (DSA). The investigation found that the company did not properly assess risks related to the sale of illegal, dangerous, and counterfeit products, and did not implement effective mechanisms to remove them. Among the products found were unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics. Sellers bypass control systems through misclassification, and the system for identifying prohibited items did not function properly. Content checkers sometimes spent only 10-20 seconds per item. Recommendation and advertising systems increased exposure to problematic products before they were removed. The European Commission stated that 'the scale of operations is not an excuse.' AliExpress rejected the decision, plans to appeal, and is required to submit a plan to rectify deficiencies by October 20. The fine adds to previous fines on X (€120 million) and Temu (€200 million).