EU Hits AliExpress with Record €550 Million Fine Over Unsafe and Counterfeit Goods
The landmark penalty under the Digital Services Act marks the European Union's toughest crackdown on e-commerce safety violations to date.
The European Commission has hit Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress with a record-breaking €550 million ($629 million) fine for failing to prevent the sale of counterfeit and hazardous goods on its platform.
This penalty represents the largest enforcement action taken under the European Union’s landmark Digital Services Act. The regulation aims to police online platforms, protect consumer rights, and curb the spread of illegal products across the 27-nation bloc.
Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, emphasized that online marketplaces cannot use their massive scale to bypass safety standards. She noted that the proliferation of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, and dangerous cosmetics is a direct consequence of the platform failing to meet its regulatory obligations.
In response to the decision, AliExpress stated it strongly disagrees with the disproportionate fine. The company defended its compliance efforts, asserting that it has dedicated substantial resources to risk mitigation and consumer safety since the law’s implementation. AliExpress is currently reviewing the ruling to determine its next legal steps.
The financial penalty addresses compliance failures leading up to a preliminary ruling in June 2025. At that time, European regulators accepted initial commitments from the retailer to bolster its safeguards. AliExpress now has until October 20 to present a comprehensive action plan detailing how it will address systemic risks and bring its operations into compliance.
This enforcement action is part of a broader, aggressive campaign by Brussels to rein in global e-commerce platforms. Earlier, the commission fined rival shopping app Temu €200 million for similar oversight failures. Additionally, Elon Musk’s social media platform X was hit with a $120 million penalty last year under the same legislative framework.
The European fine adds to the mounting legal challenges facing AliExpress’s parent company, Alibaba. The Hangzhou-based conglomerate recently agreed to pay $600 million to settle a dispute with the U.S. government over allegations that its platforms facilitated the illegal importation of controlled substances, unregulated pharmaceuticals, and pill-pressing machinery into the United States.
