Following on from X (formerly Twitter) (see EUROPE 13271/13), Meta and TikTok (see EUROPE 13275/4), on Monday 6 November, the European Commission sent the Chinese company AliExpress a request for information on the measures it has taken to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 13262/9).
In particular, the Commission is concerned with the risk assessment and mitigation measures provided for in the DSA to protect consumers from the distribution of illegal products online, including fake medicines.
“The Digital Services Act is not just about hate speech, disinformation and cyberbullying. It is also there to ensure removal of illegal or unsafe products sold in the EU via e-commerce platforms, including the growing number of fake and potentially life-threatening medicines and pharmaceuticals sold online”, commented Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton.
The Chinese digital giant - designated as a very large online platform under the DSA - will have to provide the Commission with the information requested by 27 November 2023. If the information fails to convince the Commission, the latter could formally open proceedings that could result in fines of up to 6% of the company’s annual global revenues.
Measures taken by TikTok under review
In addition to AliExpress, the French European Commissioner also indicated on Monday 6 November that the European Commission was currently examining the measures taken by TikTok to comply with the DSA. A request for information was sent to TikTok on 19 October to provide an update on the measures implemented to combat illegal online content, in particular the dissemination of terrorist and violent content, hate speech and alleged disinformation.
“Now more than ever, we must spare no effort to protect our fellow citizens - especially children and teenagers - from illegal content and disinformation”, added Mr Breton.
In the first transparency report it was due to publish before 6 November as part of the DSA (see other news), the Chinese video-sharing platform said it had “proactively” deleted 4 million messages and restricted access to 14 million messages deemed not to comply with its security standards. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)