The European Commission on Monday fined AliExpress €550 million for breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA), citing the platform’s failure to systematically assess and mitigate risks from the sale of illegal, unsafe, and counterfeit products. The penalty, the largest imposed under the 2022 legislation, requires the Alibaba subsidiary to submit a corrective action plan by 20 October 2026 or face further periodic fines. The Commission’s investigation, launched in March 2024, found that the platform had overestimated the effectiveness of its detection systems, employed too few human moderators, and allowed its recommendation algorithms to promote illegal goods before removal.

Brussels also determined that AliExpress’s penalty system for offending sellers was ineffective, with many continuing to operate, and that its mandatory brand authorisation system to combat counterfeits was understaffed and easily circumvented. Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen stated that the spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, and dangerous cosmetics was “not an inevitable cost of online shopping” but a failure to meet DSA obligations. AliExpress, in a statement, called the fine “disproportionate” and said it did not reflect the company’s established compliance framework and proactive improvements. The company is reviewing the decision and considering all options, including a possible appeal.

Viewed from Brussels, the fine is part of a broader enforcement push under the DSA, which requires very large online platforms to police illegal content. In May, the EU fined Temu €200 million for similar failings, and in December 2025 it penalised X €120 million for transparency breaches. The Commission noted that AliExpress had 193 million users in the EU last year, making it the largest Chinese e-commerce platform in the bloc, ahead of Shein and Temu. The fine, though record-breaking, represents less than 1% of parent company Alibaba’s global turnover of €122 billion, well below the DSA’s 6% cap. The EU also introduced a €3 customs levy on low-value parcels from outside the bloc in July, a move widely seen as targeting the surge of cheap imports from Chinese platforms.

European officials insisted the action was not based on the platform’s origin, noting that investigations cover US and European companies as well. However, analysts in Beijing and European capitals note that the fine coincides with mounting EU efforts to shield its market from what it describes as unfair competition from Chinese retailers. The Commission’s investigation had already led to binding commitments from AliExpress in June 2025 on content moderation and transparency, but the risk assessment and mitigation failures remained unresolved. AliExpress must now present its action plan by the October deadline; the European Board for Digital Services will then have one month to issue an opinion, after which the Commission will take a final decision and set a reasonable implementation timeline. Non-compliance could trigger additional periodic penalties.