The European Commission has fined the Chinese online platform Temu €200 million for violating the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) due to insufficient assessment of the risks associated with the distribution of illegal and dangerous goods on its marketplace.
According to the European Commission’s statement, Temu failed to exercise due diligence in identifying illegal goods on its platform and in assessing the potential harm to consumers in the EU. The investigation revealed that the platform posed a high risk of purchasing goods that do not meet European safety requirements, including chargers, children’s toys, clothing containing banned chemicals, and jewelry containing lead.
The European Commission, in particular, highlighted the very high proportion of chargers that failed basic safety tests. Similar concerns were raised regarding children’s toys, which posed a threat due to chemical concentrations exceeding permissible limits, as well as other risks to consumers. During the inspection, the regulator used the “mystery shopper” method and laboratory testing of products.
According to the European Commission’s assessment, Temu’s risk assessment report did not meet DSA requirements, as it did not allow regulators, users, and the public to understand the true scale of potential harm from illegal goods sold on the platform. Brussels also believes that Temu’s recommendation system could have increased the risk of purchasing such goods by promoting problematic product categories to users.
“Temu’s risk assessment report leaves regulators, users, and the public in the dark regarding the scale of potential harm that illegal goods sold on the platform could cause,” said Henna Wirkkunen, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy.
Temu must pay the fine and submit a plan of corrective measures to the European Commission by August 28. If the regulator deems the proposed steps insufficient, the company could face additional sanctions. The investigation into other possible DSA violations by Temu is ongoing.
The company disagreed with the European Commission’s decision and called the fine disproportionate. Temu stated that it continues to cooperate with regulators and has already made changes to its risk assessment system and internal control procedures.
Temu is owned by China’s PDD Holdings and has become one of the largest international low-price marketplaces in recent years. The platform is actively operating in the EU market, where it falls under the DSA as a major online service. The Digital Services Act imposes obligations on such platforms to assess systemic risks, combat illegal content and goods, ensure algorithm transparency, and protect users. For serious violations of the DSA, companies can be fined up to 6% of their global annual turnover.
European Commission, Temu
