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EU fines Temu for breaching EU rules on sale of illegal products

Jun 1, 2026 European Union

The European Commission has fined Chinese online retailer Temu 200 million euros under the Digital Services Act (DSA) for not doing enough to stop the sale of illegal products

Under the DSA, designated very large online platforms must assess any systemic risks associated with their services and implement appropriate mitigation measures.

However, the European Commission found that Temu had “failed to diligently identify, analyse and assess the systemic risks of illegal products being offered on its platform, and the resulting harm to consumers in the European Union”, thus failing to meet the requirements of the Digital Services Act (DSA). Consequently, the company was fined 200 million euros.

“Risk assessments are not box-ticking exercises - they are the backbone of the DSA”, said Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.

“Temu’s risk assessment underestimates concrete risks, lacks specificity, is not grounded in solid evidence, and is not comprehensive. It leaves regulators, users, and the public in the dark about the true scale of potential harm posed by illegal products sold on Temu”, she added.

The online retailer has already responded, stating that, while it respects the objectives of the DSA and the need for clear, consistent rules across the digital economy, it disagrees with the European Commission’s decision and considers the fine to be disproportionate.

Temu has now until the 28^th of August 2026 to submit an action plan detailing how it will address the breaches of the DSA that have been identified. This will then be reviewed by the European Board for Digital Services and the European Commission before a final decision is made. Failure to comply could result in periodic penalty payments.

"The decision relates to our first DSA assessment in 2024 and does not reflect the current state of our systems. Temu engaged constructively with the Commission throughout the process and has since taken further steps to strengthen risk assessment, platform governance, and user protection”, the company said. Still, it added that it would continue to engage with regulators and was considering all its options on the matter.

Image Credits: finance.yahoo.com

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