Leanone of the most popular (and in some ways controversial) online marketplaces in recent years, has ended up at the center of anformal investigation conducted by the European Commission for alleged violations of DSA (Digital Services Act), the European law governing digital services within the single market. According to the preliminary results spread by Brussels, the Chinese platform, known for the vast assortment of low -cost products, would not be able to adequately evaluate and manage the risks related to diffusion of illegal or potentially dangerous articles sold in their marketplace. A problem that, if confirmed, could lead to heavy economic penalties and a strengthening of supervision by the EU.
The alleged violations of Temu
The results of a Mystery Shopping test – investigative technique that provides for the anonymous purchase of products to verify quality and safety – have highlighted critical issues in the offer of the platform. The first data that emerged during the investigation conducted by the European Commission show a high probability that European consumers come across in Products not compliant with EU regulations: toys, small electronic devices and other items that can be purchased on Temu could be counterfeit, not safe or in any case not compliant with EU standards.
The investigation had been officially opened the 31 October 2024after in -depth monitoring coordinated with the customs authorities, market surveillance bodies and coordinators of the digital services of the Member States. The current survey represents one of the first practical applications of the new regulatory system of DSAThat imposes stringent standard in terms of transparency, safety and responsibility to large digital platforms operating in the European Union.
The key question concerns the risk assessment conducted by Temu itself in October 2024considered by Brussels too bland and based on generic sector datarather than on concrete information related to own internal operation. According to the Commission, this superficiality in the evaluation led to ineffective mitigation measures, which have not been able to stem the spread of dangerous or non -compliant goods. The problem becomes particularly serious in a context in which electronic commerce is shouting and the impact of any irregularities could propagate quickly on a continental scale.
But the investigation does not stop at the quality of the products. Investigators are evaluating even if you fear uses dark patternthat is, an deliberately deceptive user interface that pushes the user to make choices against his own interest, how to take longer on the platform or buy products without full awareness. The functioning of the recommendation algorithmsthat is, the automated systems that decide which products to show each user, and which should operate according to principles of transparency.
Henna VirkkunenExecutive vice -president for technological sovereignty, security and democracy of the EU, commented on the story in these terms:
We make purchases online because we trust that the products sold in our single market are safe and comply with our rules. According to our preliminary opinion, Temu is far from evaluating the risks for its users according to the standards required by the Digital Services Act. Online consumers safety is not negotiable in the EU: our laws, including the Digital Services Act, are the basis for better online protection and for a safer and fair digital digital market for all Europeans.
The possible consequences for Temu: the maxi fine
The European Commission is evaluating if Temu has broken theArticle 34 of the DSAwhich concerns the obligation to manage the systemic risks deriving from the platform activities. If the investigation ended up with the disadvantage of Temu, the consequences for the Chinese giant could be very heavy, since these could translate into penalties up to 6% of the annual world turnover of the company and the obligation to implement binding corrective measures. As stated in the official note on the European Commission website, moreover, «A non -compliance decision can also activate a strengthened surveillance period to ensure compliance with the measures that the supplier intends to adopt to remedy the violation».
In the meantime, the platform has declared, through its own spokesman, that he wanted to continue “fully cooperate with the Commission». As required by the procedure, Temu will now have the opportunity to consult the investigation documents, present their own written defense and propose any countermeasures.
