EU investigates AliExpress over possible ‘dissemination of illegal content’ and other violations
- European Commission also is looking into whether the company did enough to prevent minors from accessing pornographic material via its online marketplace
- The inquiry is the first of an online marketplace under the European Union’s digital services act
Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress has become the first online marketplace to be investigated under the EU’s digital services act (DSA), after Brussels began a formal probe on Thursday.
The European Commission said it was looking into the “dissemination of illegal content” and for not ensuring the protection of European consumers.
The company is accused of not enforcing its own terms of service in prohibiting products, such as medicine, food and dietary supplements, that pose risks to EU consumers’ health.
In a statement released on Thursday, the commission also said it was investigating whether the company did enough to prevent minors from accessing pornographic material via its online marketplace.
“Consumers’ protection, especially for minors, is an essential cornerstone of the DSA,” said Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s digital chief. “AliExpress must respect its obligations to mitigate the systemic risks on its platform and apply all safeguard provisions to ensure its services are safe.”
AliExpress is a subsidiary of Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post.
The commission will embark on an “in-depth investigation” under the act, which entered into force for online intermediaries operating in the EU on February 17.
The DSA regulates the obligations of digital services, including marketplaces, that act as intermediaries in their role of connecting consumers with goods, services and content.
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The commission designated AliExpress as a “very large online platform” last April, saying it has more than 100 million active users each month within the EU.
Last month, formal proceedings were opened to assess whether another Chinese-owned company, TikTok, may have breached the DSA in areas including the protection of minors, advertising transparency, data access for researchers, and the risk of addictive design and harmful content. X, formerly known as Twitter, is also under investigation.
The commission suggested it had not taken “effective measures to prevent dissemination of illegal content”. These include the policing of “hidden links” on the platform and failure to stop influencers from promoting “illegal or harmful products” through AliExpress’ affiliate programme.
The company is also accused of failing to administer a number of other DSA obligations, including allowing users to “notify illegal content”, to provide an “effective internal complaint-handling system”, to provide a “searchable repository for advertisements” and to give researchers access to its publicly accessible data.
EU investigates TikTok, AliExpress over child and consumer protection
“The DSA is not just about hate speech, disinformation and cyberbullying. It is also there to ensure removal of illegal or unsafe products sold in the EU via e-commerce platforms,” said Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner.
He said the terms were “not negotiable to operate in the EU single market”.
“As a platform reaching over 100 million users in the EU, AliExpress must fully comply with the DSA and take proportionate action to fight the dissemination of dangerous goods for consumers’ health and for minors, including by influencers members of their ‘Affiliate Programme’,” he added.
