64
The European Union accused Chinese language-founded on-line purchasing large Temu on Monday of breaking the bloc’s digital guidelines by not “correctly” assessing the dangers of unlawful merchandise.
EU regulators imagine Temu shouldn’t be doing sufficient to guard European shoppers from harmful merchandise and that it might not be appearing sufficiently to mitigate dangers to customers.
“Proof confirmed that there’s a excessive threat for shoppers within the EU to come across unlawful merchandise on the platform,” the European Fee stated in its preliminary discovering.
It pointed to a thriller purchasing train that discovered shoppers had been “very more likely to discover non-compliant merchandise among the many provide, similar to child toys and small electronics”.
Wildly common within the European Union regardless of solely having entered the continent’s market in 2023, Temu has 93.7 million common month-to-month lively customers within the 27-country bloc.
The EU stated Temu’s October 2024 threat evaluation was “inaccurate and counting on common business data moderately than on particular particulars about its personal market”.
Temu is beneath investigation as a part of a mammoth legislation referred to as the Digital Providers Act (DSA) that forces the world’s largest tech companies to do extra to guard European shoppers on-line and higher police content material on-line.
Temu will now have the ability to reply to the EU regulators’ findings and defend itself, however there isn’t a time restrict on how lengthy an investigation might final.
If confirmed to be in breach, the EU can slap a advantageous on Temu.
Fines beneath the DSA can go as excessive as six p.c of an organization’s whole worldwide annual turnover and pressure it to make modifications to handle violations.
Launched in October, the EU probe continues to research different suspected breaches together with the usage of addictive design options that might harm customers’ bodily and psychological well-being and the way Temu’s techniques suggest content material and merchandise.
– EU legislation beneath assault –
The DSA is a part of the EU’s bolstered authorized weaponry to curb the excesses of Massive Tech, with stricter guidelines for the world’s largest platforms.
It has confronted criticism from the US administration beneath President Donald Trump.
The Republican-dominated judiciary committee of the US Home of Representatives described the DSA in a scathing report as a “international censorship menace” on Friday.
Staunch President Donald Trump ally Jim Jordan, committee chair, will meet EU tech sovereignty chief Henna Virkkunen in Brussels on Monday.
There are at present different DSA probes into Chinese language on-line retailer AliExpress, social media platforms Fb and Instagram and X in addition to TikTok.
The EU additionally desires to crack down on low-cost packages that flood into the bloc annually, with a proposal beneath dialogue for a two-euro flat payment per parcel.
Final yr, 4.6 billion such packages entered the EU — greater than 145 per second — with 91 p.c originating in China. The EU expects the numbers to extend.
AFP
Put up Views: 158
