EU fines AliExpress €550 million under DSA for illegal goods

The European Union has imposed a record 550 million euro fine on the Chinese online marketplace AliExpress for failing to prevent the widespread sale of illegal, unsafe, and counterfeit goods on its platform. The penalty, announced on July 20, 2026, is the largest yet levied under the bloc's Digital Services Act (DSA).

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, found that AliExpress systematically failed to assess and mitigate risks, allowing products like counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, and dangerous cosmetics to remain available to consumers for weeks after being identified. Officials stated the platform overestimated the effectiveness of its moderation systems, employed too few staff for the volume of goods, and operated an understaffed and easily bypassed brand authorization system meant to block fakes. Furthermore, the company's own recommendation and advertising tools were found to promote illegal products before their removal, and sellers faced no effective penalty, often remaining active on the site.

EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said the spread of such products is not an unavoidable cost of online shopping but a failure by the platform to meet its legal...