E.U. hits AliExpress with a record €550 million fine for allowing illegal product sales

The fine is the largest issued to date under the E.U.'s Digital Services Act, a law that requires large online platforms to identify and address the risks of harmful or illegal content and goods. It follows a €120 million penalty against Elon Musk's X $TWTR in December 2025 and a €200 million fine against Chinese e-commerce platform Temu in May, according to Bloomberg.

The Commission determined that AliExpress had conducted an inadequate assessment of its own staffing capacity for risk review, misjudged how well its detection tools worked, and used only a single numerical metric to gauge the performance of its moderation operations. Regulators took aim at AliExpress's recommendation and advertising tools, which they said amplified the circulation of prohibited items, and found that the company's enforcement measures against rule-breaking sellers were too weak to stop them from continuing to trade on the platform. Those shortcomings meant that prohibited items — among them fake goods, toys failing safety standards, and hazardous cosmetics — stayed available on the site for extended periods, the Commission 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," European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen said in a statement. "Scale is not an excuse."

AliExpress said it plans to appeal. "Today's decision and disproportionate fine ignores our sound risk management framework and the significant, proactive enhancements we have made," the company said in a statement. Alibaba added that AliExpress has worked with the Commission to meet its "evolving expectations," according to Reuters.

AliExpress must submit a remediation plan by Oct. 20 that addresses the systemic risk assessment and mitigation gaps identified by the Commission. The Commission will then have a two-month window to issue a final ruling and establish an implementation timeline. Further periodic penalty payments are possible if AliExpress does not comply, the Commission said. Under the DSA, companies found in breach of the law can face penalties reaching up to 6% of their total worldwide turnover.

The fine against AliExpress is part of a broader pattern of E.U. enforcement against Chinese e-commerce platforms. Temu, which received a €200 million fine in May for similarly failing to prevent the sale of dangerous goods, also disputed its penalty as disproportionate and said it is considering legal options. Shein is currently under a separate DSA investigation, according to Reuters. Henna Virkkunen noted that one in five Europeans say they shop from AliExpress, Shein, or Temu at least once a month.