The European Commission fined Chinese online retailer Temu €200 million ($232 million) on May 28 for failing to prevent the sale of illegal and dangerous products to consumers across the EU — the largest penalty issued to date under the bloc’s Digital Services Act and only the second DSA fine overall, following a €110 million penalty against X last year. The Commission said Temu, designated as a Very Large Online Platform under the DSA, failed to properly identify, analyze, and assess the systemic risks posed by unsafe products on its marketplace. A formal investigation launched in October 2024 included a mystery shopping exercise by an independent testing firm; results showed that a high proportion of chargers purchased through Temu failed basic electrical safety tests, and a very high proportion of baby toys either contained chemicals above EU legal limits or featured small detachable parts presenting suffocation hazards. The Commission additionally faulted Temu for not accounting for how its own recommender algorithms amplify the reach of unsafe listings. Executive Vice-President and digital commissioner Henna Virkkunen said at a Brussels press conference: “This is about risk management. It is very much a cornerstone of our DSA. With this decision we are sending a very strong message to Temu.” Temu had not publicly commented by the time of publication.
Temu has until August 28 to submit a revised risk assessment and corrective action plan under Article 75 of the DSA; the European Board for Digital Services then has one month to evaluate the plan, after which the Commission has a further month to issue a final ruling and set an implementation timeline. Failure to comply could trigger additional periodic fines on top of Thursday’s penalty. The case underscores the Commission’s intent to use DSA enforcement against non-EU e-commerce platforms, particularly those with supply chains that bypass traditional retail gatekeeping and customs scrutiny. Temu’s parent company PDD Holdings, which is listed in the US, has faced separate tariff pressures following the Trump administration’s rollback of the de minimis exemption that had previously allowed low-value parcels from China to enter the US duty-free.