European Union regulators have accused Temu of allowing the sale of illegal products on its marketplace.
The EU launched an investigation into Temu in 2024, citing potential violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The marketplace qualifies as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under that regulation, which means it’s required to comply with the strictest standards, particularly around product and digital safety.
Preliminary results from the investigation showed that Temu perpetuates “a high risk for consumers in the EU to encounter illegal products,” the European Commission said Monday.
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Regulators conducted “a mystery shopping exercise,” which the Commission said helped it come to the conclusion that “consumers shopping on Temu are very likely to find non-compliant products,” including baby toys and small electronic items.
Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy for the European Commission, said regulators will continue their pursuit of stronger digital safety measures for consumers.
“We shop online because we trust that products sold in our Single Market are safe and comply with our rules. In our preliminary view, Temu is far from assessing risks for its users at the standards required by the Digital Services Act,” she said in a statement. “Consumers’ safety online is not negotiable in the EU—our laws, including the Digital Services Act, are the foundation for a better protection online and a safer and fairer digital Single Market for all Europeans.”
According to the Commission, Temu submitted an “inaccurate” risk assessment in October 2024, which, instead of specifying information about the marketplace, was dependent on “general industry information.” The bloc’s watchdog said that could have “led to inadequate mitigation measures against the dissemination of illegal products.”
A spokesperson for Temu said in an emailed statement that the company will “continue to cooperate fully with the Commission.”
The company now has the opportunity to review the preliminary results of the Commission’s investigation and respond to the allegations in writing. If the Commission confirms its preliminary findings, Temu could face fines worth up to 6 percent of its global annual turnover, along with being required to remedy the violations and potentially facing “an enhanced supervision period” to ensure those measures are satisfactory to regulators.
The Commission will also continue to investigate Temu’s potentially addictive design, its recommendation systems and how much access it allows researchers to its data. The EU has opened other DSA-related investigations into other companies, including TikTok. Earlier this year, it also requested additional information on fast-fashion e-tailer Shein’s practices.
