The European Commission has taken significant steps towards enforcing the recently enacted Digital Services Act (DSA) by launching formal proceedings against AliExpress, a major online retail platform. This action targets potential breaches of the DSA in several key areas, including risk management and content moderation, user reporting and complaint handling mechanisms, traceability of traders, and transparency in advertising and recommendation systems, as well as researcher data access.

The Commission’s investigation will focus on AliExpress’s adherence to specific obligations outlined in various articles of the DSA. Any failure to comply with these provisions would constitute an infringement of the Act. The Commission will gather further evidence through additional information requests, interviews, and potential inspections, enabling them to take further enforcement actions such as temporary measures or non-compliance decisions. This formal proceeding demonstrates the Commission’s commitment to holding Very Large Online Platforms accountable for upholding DSA standards, potentially setting a precedent for future enforcement actions in the European Union.

The press release is available here.