The European Commission (EC) has reported on this Initiating a formal investigation against AliExpress to evaluate whether the company may have violated the Digital Services Act (DSA). -in force since February 17th- on issues such as this Risk management and mitigationfor content moderation and the internal complaint handling mechanism, for Transparency of advertising and recommendation systemson the traceability of sellers or on researchers’ access to data.
«The Digital Services Act doesn’t just address hate speech, misinformation and cyberbullying. The elimination of illegal or unsafe products sold in the EU via e-commerce platforms is also guaranteed.“, he emphasized Thierry Breton, Internal Market Commissionerwith the claim that “This is non-negotiable for operations in the EU internal market«.
Specifically, the European regulatory authority accuses AliExpress Selling dangerous products for the consumer as counterfeit medications or nutritional supplementsWave Purchase of pornographic material by minorsAssumptions that the new European rules for digital services prohibit.
Brussels also found this in its preliminary examination other alleged irregularities which now highlights the platform’s lack of measures to prevent the spread of illegal content and other irregular practices such as: B. will examine in more detail Manipulation through hidden links either Allow influencers to promote illegal products or harmful through the AliExpress affiliate program.
«With the platform reaching more than 100 million users in the EU, AliExpress must fully comply with the Digital Services Act and take appropriate measures to combat the distribution of goods harmful to the health of consumers and minors, including through influencers who are members of its partner program«Breton pointed this out and ensured that «The process we have launched today is intended to examine whether this is the case and to ensure that no measures are spared to protect our citizens«.
It is also investigating whether to allow users to report illegal content
AliExpress Nor would it have taken the necessary measures to comply with the obligation to allow all users, including those not subscribed to its services, Warning about illegal content and receive confirmation that your risk report has been sent.
Brussels will also investigate the Chinese company over other issues, such as: Lack of an effective internal complaint management systemCompliance with the collection and assessment of the reliability and completeness of the information requested from sellers using AliExpress, including those included in the “AliExpress Affiliate Program” and the Transparency standards for the parameters used for their recommendation systems and to offer at least one recommendation system option that is not based on profiling.
Also complying with the provision of a reliable and accessible repository for advertising presented on AliExpress and granting researchers access to publicly available data on AliExpress, as required by Article 40 of the Digital Services Law.
«The protection of consumers, especially minors, is a key cornerstone of the Digital Services Act. AliExpress must comply with its obligations to mitigate systemic risks on its platform and implement all safeguards to ensure the security of its servicesHe hinted Margrethe Vestager, Vice President of the community, responsible for competition. «The Commission will now evaluate its measures and check their compliance with our rules«Vestager claimed.
AliExpress could violate up to 10 DSA items
If all Brussels suspicions are confirmed during the investigation launched this Thursday, AliExpress would be violating up to ten articles of the DSA. However, these are currently preliminary suspicions on the part of the municipal council, which must now be clarified with the formal investigation, which is being carried out without a time limit. If confirmed, Aliexpress could pay a fine of 6% of its annual turnover.
AliExpress was named a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) on April 25, 2023, under the new rules after declaring that there are 104.3 million monthly active users in the EU. Like VLOP, AliExpress has a number of greater obligations than other companies and it is in this spirit that the Commission’s investigation is focused.