The European Commission says consumers in the EU were highly likely to encounter illegal items on Temu, including unsafe chargers and baby toys, after finding shortcomings in the platform’s risk assessment.
The European Commission has fined Temu €200 million for breaching the EU’s Digital Services Act, in one of the most significant enforcement actions so far against a fast-growing online marketplace operating in the European Union.
Brussels said on Thursday that Temu had failed to identify, analyse and assess properly the systemic risks linked to illegal products being offered on its platform and the resulting harm to consumers in the EU. In its official statement, the Commission said the evidence available to it indicated that EU consumers were “very likely” to encounter illegal items when using the platform.
The fine relates to Temu’s 2024 risk assessment, which the Commission found did not meet the requirements imposed on very large online platforms under the Digital Services Act. According to the Commission, Temu relied on general information about risks in the e-commerce sector rather than specific evidence relating to its own service, including public reports and product testing.
The Commission said its investigation included a mystery-shopping exercise. It found that a very high proportion of selected chargers failed basic safety tests, while a high proportion of tested baby toys presented medium to high safety risks. The concerns included chemicals exceeding legal safety limits and detachable parts that could create suffocation hazards.
The case also examines the design of Temu’s service. The Commission said the company had not properly assessed how recommender systems and product promotion programmes involving affiliated influencers could amplify the spread of illegal products. That finding places the case beyond individual product listings and into the wider question of how online marketplaces structure sales, visibility and incentives.
Temu was designated by the Commission as a Very Large Online Platform under the Digital Services Act in May 2024, after declaring that it had more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU. That designation brought the platform under the strictest obligations of the DSA, including duties to assess and mitigate systemic risks linked to illegal content, consumer protection and the design of online services.
The Commission had already opened formal proceedings against Temu in October 2024 to assess whether the company had breached the DSA. The investigation covered the sale of illegal products, the potentially addictive design of the service, recommender systems, and access to data for researchers. Thursday’s fine concerns the risk-assessment element of the case, while other parts of the investigation remain relevant to the wider regulatory scrutiny of the platform.
Temu has until 28 August 2026 to submit an action plan setting out how it will remedy the breach. The Commission can impose further measures if it considers the response inadequate. The decision therefore gives Temu a deadline not only to pay the penalty, but to demonstrate how it intends to change the way it identifies and reduces risks for EU consumers.
The company has disputed the decision. According to current reporting, Temu described the fine as disproportionate and said the case related to an initial 2024 assessment. It also said it had strengthened its compliance processes and would continue to engage with EU regulators.
The Temu case sits within a broader EU effort to bring large online marketplaces under closer supervision. The Digital Services Act requires very large platforms not only to remove illegal material once it is found, but also to assess systemic risks in advance and change their systems where those risks are linked to the way the service operates.
Separately, the Commission and national consumer authorities have been examining a range of Temu practices under EU consumer protection rules. The Consumer Protection Cooperation Network previously identified concerns including alleged fake discounts, pressure selling, forced gamification, misleading information on refunds, suspected fake reviews and hidden contact details.
The action against Temu also comes as EU policymakers face growing pressure over the volume of low-cost goods entering the European market through online platforms. The rapid expansion of direct-to-consumer marketplaces has raised questions about customs enforcement, product safety checks, competition with EU retailers and the ability of regulators to monitor millions of low-value parcels.
For Brussels, the case is intended to show that the DSA can be applied not only to social media platforms, but also to e-commerce marketplaces whose business models depend on scale, recommendation systems and cross-border logistics. For Temu, it creates a compliance test that goes beyond individual product removals and requires evidence that its own risk-management systems are adequate for the size and structure of its EU business.
The outcome will be watched by other major platforms operating in the EU. The Commission’s decision indicates that risk assessments under the DSA must be specific, evidence-based and linked to the actual functioning of the service. General statements about sector-wide risks are unlikely to satisfy regulators where product testing, public reports or platform design point to concrete consumer safety concerns.
