The European Union fined Temu €200 million (about $232 million) after an investigation found unsafe, non-compliant products on its platform. Regulators say the company failed to assess systemic risks and that the penalties follow an earlier DSA action against
By the time the penalty landed, Temu’s pitch had already been familiar to millions of shoppers: cheap goods, shipped from China, delivered fast. But in Brussels, the question was never about price. It was about whether shoppers were being protected from toxic toys and unsafe electronics.
On Thursday, the European Union imposed a €200 million fine—about $232 million—on Temu. The European Commission said its investigation found the Chinese online retailer failed to protect consumers from illegal products, including toxic or hazardous toys and unsafe electronics.
The fine follows preliminary findings last year that Temu was exposing consumers to a high risk of products sold on its platform. such as baby toys and small electronics. that did not comply with EU consumer safety rules. The Commission issued the penalty under the Digital Services Act. a wide-ranging framework that requires online platforms to do more to keep internet users safe from harmful content or dodgy goods. with the possibility of hefty fines.
This is not the first DSA penalty Brussels has issued under the law. It is the second time the European Commission has fined a company under the DSA in three years, following a $120 million penalty last year against Elon Musk’s social media site X.
Temu responded that it disagreed with the decision and considered the fine “disproportionate.” In a statement. the company said the decision “relates to the commission’s first DSA evaluation of Temu in 2024” and “does not reflect the current state of our systems.” It added that it “engaged constructively with the Commission throughout the process” and that it “has since taken further steps to strengthen risk assessment. platform governance. and user protection.”.
The Commission’s reasoning turned on how Temu handled risk—specifically. whether it could spot and evaluate patterns of illegal goods before they reached consumers. It said Temu failed to identify. analyze and assess the systemic risks of illegal goods sold on the platform and the resulting harm to European consumers.
Investigators carried out a “mystery shopping exercise” and turned up products they described as “non-compliant.” Among them were many electronic device chargers that failed basic safety tests. Regulators also found what they described as a very high percentage of baby toys that posed safety risks. The hazards. the Commission said. included chemicals at levels that exceeded safety limits and toys with parts that could come off. creating a suffocation risk.
European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkunnen said risk assessment is not a box-ticking exercise. She argued that Temu’s risk assessment “underestimates concrete risks. lacks specificity. is not grounded in solid evidence. and is not comprehensive.” She added that the approach leaves “regulators. users. and the public in the dark about the true scale of potential harm posed by illegal products sold on Temu. ” and said. “Now it is time for Temu to comply with the law.”.
Temu, with 92 million users in the EU, is popular for offering cheap goods—from clothing to home products—shipped from sellers in China. The platform is owned by PDD Holdings Inc., the same group that owns the Chinese e-commerce site Pinduoduo.
The Commission’s decision comes with a deadline and the possibility of more penalties. Temu has until the end of August to submit an “action plan” to remedy the problem. If it fails to comply, it could face additional daily, weekly or monthly fines.
Even for an online retailer built around speed and low prices. the message from Brussels is blunt: the law demands more than reacting after harm appears. It requires platforms to identify risks early. with enough specificity and evidence to keep illegal goods from reaching consumers in the first place.
Temu European Union Digital Services Act DSA fine unsafe toys hazardous electronics mystery shopping exercise Henna Virkunnen consumer safety PDD Holdings Pinduoduo