Europe: The EU Commission has opened a formal investigation into AliExpress over concerns about the spread of illegal content on the website. The Chinese technology giant Alibaba operates AliExpress.
Following a milestone ‘Digital Service Act (DSA)’ passed this month, the EU’s executive branch opened an inquiry into AliExpress. The wide-ranging ruling seeks to restrain tech giants in areas ranging from anti-competitive manners to assuring that false information does not spread on their platforms.
The European Commission stated that, “The investigation focuses on whether AliExpress may have breached the DSA in areas linked to the management and mitigation of risks, to content moderation and the internal complaint handling mechanism, to the transparency of advertising and recommender systems, to the traceability of traders and to data access for researchers.”
The Commission will examine whether AliExpress lacked compliance with its terms of service, which regulate specific products that pose a threat to consumers’ health, such as counterfeit drugs. The EU Commission said that the investigation would also focus on whether there were violations of the DSA that allowed minors to access obscene material.
Other dimensions of the investigation include how AliExpress suggests products to users and whether the e-commerce site agrees to a regulation that permits a searchable collection of promotions served on the platform.
According to AliExpress representative, the company is in contact with the relevant authorities to ensure we are complying with applicable standards. The company will continue to ensure it meets DSA requirements. “AliExpress is committed to creating a safe and compliant marketplace for all consumers,” the representative stated.
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