EU: Temu Breached Digital Law Over Unsafe Products

The European Commission has preliminarily found Chinese e-commerce platform Temu in breach of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) for failing to properly assess and mitigate the risks of illegal and unsafe products, including counterfeit goods, unsafe toys, and electronics. An investigation, which included a mystery shopping exercise, revealed EU consumers are at high risk of encountering non-compliant or dangerous items on Temu. The Commission criticized Temu's reliance on general industry data rather than marketplace-specific information for risk assessment, leading to potentially inadequate protections. Additional concerns relate to the use of addictive design features, lack of transparency in recommendation systems, and the presence of fake reviews or discounts. Temu has a few weeks to respond to the findings; if violations are confirmed, it could face fines of up to 6% of global annual turnover and enhanced supervision. This case is part of a broader EU effort to enforce consumer safety and digital regulation compliance among online platforms.