The European Union has fined Chinese-owned online retail platform Temu €200 million ($232 million) for allegedly allowing the sale of illegal and unsafe products across its marketplace.
EU regulators announced the penalty on Thursday, accusing the fast-growing e-commerce platform of failing to adequately protect consumers from dangerous items, including unsafe baby toys, defective chargers, and non-compliant jewellery.
According to the European Commission, consumers in the EU were “very likely to encounter illegal items” while shopping on Temu, adding that the company underestimated the risks posed to users on its platform.
“The company failed to diligently identify, analyse, and assess the systemic risks of illegal products being offered on its platform and the resulting harm to consumers in the European Union,” the EU said in a statement.
Investigators cited examples of baby rattles containing chemicals above legal safety limits and phone chargers that reportedly failed basic safety requirements.
The Commission also criticised Temu’s 2024 risk assessment under the Digital Services Act (DSA), saying it did not meet required standards and failed to properly examine how the platform’s design could encourage the spread of illegal products.
Temu, however, rejected the decision, describing the penalty as “disproportionate” and insisting it disagreed with the EU’s findings.
The online retailer has rapidly expanded across Europe since entering the market in 2023 and currently boasts about 130 million users in the bloc.
EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen said Temu’s huge market presence increased the risk of illegal products reaching millions of consumers.
“Temu is a very big player in the European market,” she told reporters, noting that many users across Europe could easily be exposed to unsafe goods through the platform.
The fine marks only the second major penalty issued under the EU’s Digital Services Act, a sweeping law designed to hold large online platforms accountable for harmful or illegal content and products.
Under the DSA, major digital platforms are required to carry out detailed risk assessments and implement measures to reduce dangers to users.
Last December, Elon Musk’s social media platform X was fined €120 million under the same law, making Temu the latest global tech company to face sanctions from European regulators.