The European Commission is moving forward with its investigation into Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress over breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA) by accepting binding commitments and releasing a new set of obligations.
The Commission initiated formal proceedings against AliExpress in 2024 for possible breaches of risk management, data management, and transparency. “This decision serves as an illustration of the Commission’s expectations when we raise concerns. We welcome AliExpress’ commitments towards becoming safer for users, fairer for legitimate traders, and a better online platform for all,” commented Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty.
AliExpress decided to legally commit to a series of actions to address concerns raised by the Commission in its assessment of the company’s practices. Among other things, AliExpress will update its monitoring systems to flag illegal products and prevent users from accessing such products via hidden links. The company will also upgrade its transparency for ads and recommendations and make its services’ traders easier to track.
In order to ensure these commitments are enforced, AliExpress will set up a team solely dedicated to oversee implementation of these measures and the effectiveness of them on the company’s policies. Regular reports are expected, including an annual one to the Commission.
Despite these commitments, the Chinese company was also found in breach of monitoring risks related to dissemination of illegal products. The Commission released its preliminary findings, stating that AliExpress continues to experience systemic failures in its proactive content moderation system and underestimates the risk by allocating limited resources to moderation systems. The company also failed to enforce penalties against traders who repeatedly breach terms and post illegal content.
AliExpress has not had the chance to defend itself against the preliminary findings. However, the Commission can still file for non-compliance, forcing AliExpress to submit an approved action plan to address the issues raised in the Commission’s investigation.
