Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress failed to properly assess and reduce the risks linked to illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products sold through its platform, the European Commission says.
The European Commission fined AliExpress €550M for breaching the Digital Services Act on Monday, 20 July. “The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, dangerous cosmetics and other illegal and harmful products is not an unavoidable cost of shopping online,” said Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty. “It is a failure by AliExpress to comply with its obligations under the Digital Services Act.”
Illegal products remained on AliExpress for weeks while in-built recommendation systems promoted them to consumers. They were often able to bypass safety checks by being listed in the wrong categories. Brussels has now fined the online marketplace €550m for failing to address those risks.
Weak checks
The Commission said AliExpress overestimated how effective its detection systems were. Tests found that counterfeit goods, unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics continued to appear on the platform despite the company’s moderation efforts.
The company also did not employ enough staff to review the large number of products listed by traders. Workers had only 10 to 20 seconds to review the products. As a result, some illegal goods remained online for several weeks, even after they had been identified.
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The platform’s advertising and recommendation systems made the problem worse. Some illegal products were promoted or recommended to consumers before AliExpress removed them. Stores that had already been penalised for selling illegal goods were also allowed to remain active.
Traders could bypass product checks by listing goods in the wrong categories, where the requirements were less strict. AliExpress did not have enough staff to verify these listings before publication. Its ‘brand authorisation’ system, designed to prevent counterfeit sales, was also understaffed and ineffective, allowing sellers to publish fake products.
One of Europe’s favourites
AliExpress has around 193M users in the EU as of the end of 2025, making the top three most popular Chinese platforms in Europe. Top product categories include fast fashion accessories, small electronics, home and kitchen gadgets, beauty accessories, hobby products, and seasonal novelties.
For Ms Virkkunen, “Scale is not an excuse. Risks must be identified and addressed systematically to ensure consumers can safely shop online. Today, we are holding AliExpress to this standard and request it to take action,” she said.
Scale is not an excuse. — Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy
The case dates back to March 2024, when the Commission opened formal proceedings against the company. The investigation focused on assessment and mitigation of risks and content moderation. It also covered the platform’s internal complaints system, advertising transparency, recommendation algorithms, trader traceability and researchers’ access to data.
In June 2025, the Commission accepted as binding a series of commitments AliExpress offered to address most of those concerns. These included improvements to its system for reporting illegal content, as well as greater transparency around advertising and recommendation systems.
Biggest fine under the DSA
The AliExpress penalty is the third—and so far, the highest—fine imposed under the Digital Services Act. According to Commission officials, the value is proportionate, as it concerns two years of risk assessment reports from 2023 and 2024.
The first salvo targeted X in December 2025. The social media platform was fined €120m. Four days before the AliExpress decision, the Commission accepted X’s action plan for addressing some of the infringements leading to the fine. The platform is committed to improving its advertising database and making it easier for eligible researchers to access public data.
Today, we are holding AliExpress to this standard and request it to take action. — Henna Virkkunen
The second DSA fine went against Temu. Brussels slapped the online marketplace with a €200m penalty for selling illegal products. The Commission’s investigation found that consumers were likely to encounter unsafe toys and electrical chargers. It also concluded that Temu had not adequately examined how recommendation systems, promotions, and affiliated influencers could increase the spread of illegal products.
AliExpress has until 20 October 2026 to submit its own action plan to the Commission. The plan must explain how the company will correct its failures to assess and mitigate the systemic risks associated with illegal products. The European Board for Digital Services will have one month after receiving the plan to issue its opinion. Failure to comply with the decision could lead to additional periodic penalty payments.
