The European Commission has slapped a record €550 million ($628.37 million) fine on Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA), for failing to prevent the sale of illegal and harmful products.
The Commission issued the unprecedented fine to AliExpress for its inability to halt the sale of unlawful and dangerous goods.
The EU's tech chief, Henna Virkkunen, underscored the presence of counterfeit items, unsafe toys, and hazardous cosmetics on the platform, which continued to be advertised despite failing to meet standards.
This penalty is the largest ever imposed by the EU under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires large platforms like AliExpress to assess and mitigate the risks of spreading illegal content and goods.
The EU stated that AliExpress's failure to manage these risks is not only dangerous for consumers but also unfair to companies that comply with all rules.
