The European Union imposed a €550 million (around US$629 million) fine on Alibaba's AliExpress for failing to stop the sale of illegal, unsafe, and counterfeit goods on its platform, marking the largest penalty under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) since it came into effect in 2024 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9].
The EU Commission found that AliExpress did not adequately assess or mitigate systemic risks related to illegal and unsafe products. The platform lacked sufficient staff to review listings, with moderators often given only tens of seconds to judge product legality. Many illegal items, including counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, and dangerous cosmetics, stayed listed for weeks or even over a month after being detected [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7].
AliExpress's brand authorization system was ineffective and easily bypassed by sellers of counterfeit goods. The platform's recommendation and advertising algorithms further exacerbated the problem by promoting these illicit products [1, 5, 6].
Henna Virkkunen, EU Tech Chief, said, "The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, dangerous cosmetics and other illegal and harmful products is not an unavoidable cost of shopping online – it is a failure by AliExpress to comply with its obligations under the Digital Services Act." She added, "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." [2, 7]
AliExpress had about 193 million users in Europe in 2025, ahead of competitors Shein and Temu. Around one in five Europeans reports shopping monthly on AliExpress, Shein, or Temu platforms [1, 2, 3, 6].
Earlier this year, Temu was fined €200 million by the EU for similar violations, and Elon Musk's X platform received a €120 million fine in late 2025 under the DSA [1, 2, 3, 6, 7].
The fine on AliExpress could have been higher, reaching up to 6% of the global revenue of about €122 billion. The EU reduced the amount partly due to the novelty of the Digital Services Act [1, 2, 3, 6].
AliExpress called the fine disproportionate, stating, "We are surprised by the EU decision and disproportionate fine and we disagree. The fine ignores our sound risk management framework and significant, proactive enhancements. We will appeal." [3, 10, 11, 6, 8, 9]
In response, China’s Ministry of Commerce condemned the fine, accusing the EU of discrimination and calling for fair treatment of Chinese businesses. A spokesperson stated, "We strongly oppose the EU setting digital barriers and discriminatory measures restricting Chinese e-commerce companies’ normal operations in Europe. We urge the EU to treat Chinese companies fairly and support them in using legal means to protect their rights." [10]
AliExpress must submit a remedial action plan to the European Commission by October 20, 2026, or face further penalties [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9].
