Giant Chinese e-commerce platform Temu has been fined by the European Commission with €200 million (£173m) for the sale of illegal products in the platform, including some that pose risks to the health of infants. Brussels say that the Chinese company "failed to diligently identify, analyse and assess the systemic risks", and now has three months to pay the fine as well as to present an action plan to address the failures. "The evidence available to the Commission indicates that EU consumers are highly likely to encounter illegal items on Temu".
It is the result of an investigation launched in October 2024 that found that a percentage of baby products tested presented medium or high safety risks, containing chemicals exceeding legal safety limits or that posed a choking hazard due to detachable parts. A "very high percentage" of the electric chargers analysed also failed to pass basic safety tests.
This is the second fine imposed by the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) for content, following a €120 to X (formerly Twitter) last December.
Temu could also face further fines by the European Commission for other investigations, such as the use of addictive design elements, the transparency of its recommendation systems, and researchers' access to data, according to El País.