Alibaba’s AliExpress hit with €550 million EU fine over sales of illegal, counterfeit products

The European Union fined Alibaba's AliExpress a record €550 million ($629 million) on Monday (July 20) for failing to stop sales of illegal and unsafe products on its platform. The fine was the third issued by the European Commission under the EU's landmark Digital Services Act, which requires very large online platforms to do more to counter illegal and harmful content. The penalty is significantly higher than the €120 million handed out to Elon Musk's social media platform X in December last year and the €200 million meted out to Temu in May this year, both for DSA violations. The Commission charged AliExpress in June last year with failing to comply with a key DSA requirement to assess and mitigate the risks of dissemination of illegal products. It set an October 20 deadline for AliExpress to propose remedial measures, and the company could face further penalties if the regulator decides in December that they do not comply with the DSA.