It is the highest penalty imposed under the Digital Services Act and follows a two-year investigation.

Chinese online retail giant AliExpress has been fined a record €550m (£467m) by the EU for allowing the sale of illegal products such as unsafe toys and counterfeit clothes. The penalty is the highest fine imposed under the Digital Services Act, which requires tech giants to do more to counter illegal and harmful content. The European Commission said AliExpress fell short of its obligation under the Act to "diligently assess" the risk of illegal, unsafe or fake goods on its platform. The company said the fine was disproportionate and that it has made enhancements to its processes. The Commission's two-year investigation found that AliExpress's detection systems "did not work properly", with many illegal products not flagged while others that were identified remained on the site for several weeks It also found the company did not properly enforce penalties on traders selling illegal goods. AliExpress, which is owned by the Chinese tech conglomerate Alibaba, has 193 million users in Europe, more than fellow Chinese online retailers Shein or Temu. The fine is the third handed out under the Digital Services Act. The first two were given to Temu and X, and Shein is being investigated under the Act.