The European Commission Has Fined AliExpress 550 Million Euros
- 20.07.2026, 19:07
For violating the EU Digital Services Act.
The European Commission (EC) has fined the e-commerce platform AliExpress 550 million euros for violating the requirements of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The EC announced this on Monday, July 20. According to Politico, this fine is the largest ever imposed by the European Commission for violations of online consumer protection requirements.
According to the EC, the Chinese platform failed to adequately assess the risks associated with the sale of prohibited goods on its marketplaces, overestimated the effectiveness of its internal moderation systems, and failed to account for the impact of recommendation algorithms on the promotion of such products.
European regulators found that AliExpress’s system of sanctions against unscrupulous sellers was ineffective. In particular, several weeks after warnings were issued, counterfeit goods, dangerous toys, and cosmetics continued to be sold on the platform. Many sellers also deliberately listed products under the wrong category to circumvent safety compliance checks.
“AliExpress’s scale is no excuse: to ensure online consumer safety, risks must be systematically identified and eliminated. We demand that AliExpress adhere to this standard and take appropriate measures,” stated Henna Wirkkunen, the European Commission’s Executive Vice President for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy.
AliExpress may face new fines and legal proceedings
In determining the amount of the fine, the European Commission took into account the nature of the violations, their duration, and their negative effects on consumers in the EU. According to the EC’s statement, the violations of the EU Digital Services Act continued until at least June 2025.
AliExpress now has until October 20, 2026, to submit a plan to the EC outlining how it will remedy the violations. If the company refuses to comply with the regulator’s requirements, the platform faces additional fines.
The European Commission launched an investigation into AliExpress in March 2024. In June 2025, the EC stated that it had identified numerous violations of the DSA’s requirements in the areas of consumer risk assessment, content moderation, transparency of advertising and recommendation algorithms, and seller verification.
AliExpress may face yet another investigation: in November 2025, the French government promised to take the platform to court over the presence of adult products with child-like appearances on its marketplaces.