EU Fines Alibaba's AliExpress $630 Million Over Unsafe Products

The European Commission has imposed a €550 million ($630 million) fine on AliExpress, the cross-border e-commerce platform owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The penalty is the largest enforcement action taken since the Digital Services Act (DSA) came into effect in 2022, targeting the platform's persistent failures to curb counterfeit, unsafe, and non-compliant products.

The fine follows an investigation launched by the European Commission in March last year. Regulators found that AliExpress listed numerous products failing to meet EU safety and environmental standards, including high-risk categories like substandard toys and non-compliant cosmetics. Investigators also identified systemic shortcomings in the platform's enforcement mechanisms.

Illegal listings often remained online for weeks before being removed, while recommendation algorithms continued to promote violating products. Insufficient staffing in the brand authorization review process also rendered verification largely ineffective, allowing sellers to circumvent oversight and relist removed items.

European Commissioner Henna Virkkunen stated the penalty aims to compel the platform to systematically address online consumer safety risks. The fine's size reflects the nature of the violations, their prolonged duration, and their impact on approximately 193 million users across the EU.