On Friday 11 October, the European Commission announced that it had requested new information from the Chinese e-commerce site Temu, which it suspects of failing to take action against the sale of illegal and potentially dangerous products.
Back in June, the Commission asked the platform for details of the measures taken to comply with the obligations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), in particular those relating to the ‘notification and action mechanism’ for illegal products (see EUROPE 13442/6).
On Friday, the Commission demanded that Temu provide more details on the measures adopted to reduce “the risks linked to consumer protection, public health and the well-being of users”.
The EU is also demanding “details of recommendation systems and the risks for the protection of users’ personal data”.
In September, several Member States urged the Commission to tighten controls on the Temu and Shein sites, accused of flooding the European market with quantities of non-compliant products (see EUROPE 13491/3).
The European Consumers Organisation (BEUC) also lodged a complaint with the European Commission last May, accusing Temu of breaching the DSA by manipulating its users into spending more.
The platform has until 21 October to provide the information requested, failing which it could face the opening of a formal investigation. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)