The European Commission has opened an investigation into Chinese online shopping platform Temu on suspicion that the site is not doing enough to stop the sale of illegal products.

“We want to ensure that Temu complies with the Digital Services Act. In particular, by ensuring that products sold on their platform meet EU standards and do not harm consumers,” the European Commissioner said on Thursday. to the competition, Margrethe Vestager, in a press release.

Temu said he would cooperate with the EU.

Temu faces scrutiny for counterfeit products and ‘addictive design’

In May, the European Commission classified Temu as a “very large online platform” under the DSA. This requires the world’s biggest tech companies to do more to protect European consumers online.

Concerned about counterfeit items being sold on Temu, Vestager wants to know what systems Temu has in place to combat “rogue traders” selling “non-compliant products” as well as how the platform restricts their “reappearance”.

The Commission is also concerned about Temu’s aggressive sales tactics and “potentially addictive design”, including “game-like” reward programs.

It faces heavy fines, up to 6% of its global turnover, if the company violates the law.

Temu plans to join European anti-counterfeiting group

Temu quickly expanded in Europe thanks to aggressive marketing, attracting millions of users with its slogan “shop like a billionaire” and offering low prices on a wide range of products including.

The Commission said it had 92 million monthly active users in the EU in September.

“We will fully cooperate with regulators to support our shared goal of a safe and reliable market for consumers,” a Temu spokesperson said in a statement.

The company also plans to join a group of e-commerce platforms and brands that are collaborating to prevent the sale of counterfeit products online in Europe.

The “Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Sale of Counterfeit Products Online” is a voluntary agreement facilitated by the European Commission, signed by online retailers such as Amazon, Alibaba and eBay, as well as brands such as Adidas , Nike, Hermes, and Moncler.

lo/ko (AFP, dpa, Reuters)