Temu Probed by EU for DSA Breach, Illegal Sales Issues

The European Commission announced that Chinese e-commerce platform Temu is failing to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) by not taking adequate measures to prevent the sale of illegal products on its site.

Following a mystery shopping exercise, the Commission found a high likelihood that consumers using Temu could encounter non-compliant goods, including baby toys and small electronics. It concluded that Temu’s risk assessment relied on general industry information rather than a platform-specific analysis.

“Evidence showed that there is a high risk for consumers in the EU to encounter illegal products on the platform,” the Commission said in a statement, adding that Temu's failure to assess and mitigate those risks could constitute a DSA violation.

If the preliminary findings are confirmed, the Commission may impose fines of up to 6% of Temu’s annual global revenue and demand corrective actions.

A Temu spokesperson said the company would continue to “cooperate fully” with the Commission. The platform is expected to respond to the findings in the coming weeks, though no specific deadline has been set, according to Reuters.

The Commission noted that this announcement relates to just one part of a broader investigation into Temu. Other areas under scrutiny include the use of addictive design features, lack of transparency in recommendation algorithms, and limited data access for researchers.