EC initiates proceedings against purchasing platform Temu
The European Commission is launching formal proceedings against shopping platform Temu under the EU Digital Services Act, the EC said in a statement on Thursday.
"The Commission has opened formal proceedings to assess whether Temu may have infringed the Digital Services Act in areas related to the sale of illegal products, the potentially addictive design of the service, systems used to recommend purchases to users, and access to data for researchers," the EC wrote in the statement.
It added that Thursday's decision follows preliminary analyses of a risk assessment report submitted by Temu at the end of September 2024, in response to the Commission's formal information requests of June 28, 2024, and October 11, 2024, as well as information made available by third parties.
"The Commission also relied on information made available through the cooperation mechanism with national authorities within the European Council of Digital Service Coordinators, in particular the Irish Digital Services Coordinator," the EC continued.
On October 16, the head of Poland's antitrust and consumer protection regulator UOKiK made allegations of violations of consumer rights by the Temu shopping platform. The company, in a statement sent to PAP Biznes, said it would cooperate with UOKiK on making sure the company's practices comply with relevant regulations.
Temu is one of the largest shopping platforms with Chinese capital. Dublin-based Irish company Whaleco Technology Limited is responsible for sales conducted in Poland, and it was the company that UOKiK charged with violating consumer rights after it checked the way information important to shoppers was presented on the Temu website and app.
jz/ ao/