The European Commission has issued preliminary findings against AliExpress, the e-commerce marketplace owned by Alibaba, for failing to prevent illegal, unsafe, and counterfeit products from circulating on its platform. The case falls under the EU’s Digital Services Act, the sweeping content moderation framework that came into force between 2022 and 2023.
What AliExpress actually did wrong
The European Commission’s preliminary findings, released on June 18, 2025, identified violations of Articles 34 and 35 of the DSA. Those articles require very large online platforms to actively assess and reduce the risks of illegal content and dangerous products on their services.
The formal investigation had been running since March 2024, giving Alibaba over a year to respond before findings were published. The probe focused on three specific failure areas: advertising transparency, how the platform handles user complaints, and seller traceability.
Potential fines under the DSA can reach up to 6% of a company’s global annual turnover.
