EU accepts AliExpress' commitments to catch illegal online products

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission has accepted commitments made by Alibaba’s AliExpress to address concerns over the dissemination of potentially illegal and pornographic materials through its platform, the EU executive arm said on Wednesday. 

 

The Commission launched an investigation in March into what it saw as a failure by AliExpress to act against these products, which could have led to a hefty fine. 

 

On Wednesday, the Commission said it had accepted and made binding a series of "wide-ranging commitments".

 

But AliExpress could still face a fine, with the Commission saying the company underestimated the risk of disseminating illegal products and did not enforce its penalties against traders that post illegal content.

 

AliExpress has the right to reply to these preliminary findings.

 

"We have proactively engaged and closely collaborated with the European Commission throughout this process from the outset, and we will continue to do so," the company said in a statement. 

 

"We are confident that a positive and compliant result will be achieved through continuing our mutual dialogue with the Commission to address any remaining concerns."

 

The commitments made relate to concerns over the platform’s systems to monitor and detect illegal products, such as medicines, food supplements and adult material. 

 

They also increase the transparency of AliExpress’ advertising and recommender systems, and make it easier to trace traders on its platform, the Commission said. 

 

 (Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Makini Brice and Saad Sayeed)