just launched an investigation into the alleged sale of illegal products
The European Commission wants to know whether Tema violated the Digital Services Act (DSA). Believe that e-commerce platform Chinese origin violated five articles of the above rules, so he decided to launch an official investigation to determine whether his suspicions were justified.
The case involves the alleged sale of illegal products, potentially addictive service design, systems used to recommend purchases and a commitment to provide authorities with access to publicly available data. These are elements that have been part of several preliminary analyzes in recent months.
Temi and the Digital Services Act
Before announcing the start of the investigation, the European Commission analyzed the reports risk assessment sent to Temu at the end of September this year. He also reviewed internal documentation provided by the Chinese giant after two requests for information, the last of which was on October 11.
The EU Executive will focus on Articles 27, 34, 35, 38 and 40 of the DSA. As they explain, the procedure will take into account the mechanisms the platform has to limit the presence and reappearance of unauthorized products, the risks of addictive design, including game-type reward programs, and measures aimed at mitigating this type of behavior.
They will also explore how Temu recommends content and products to users. At this stage, the company must disclose the parameters used for its recommendation system. Finally, the European Commission will assess compliance with a Digital Services Act rule that requires companies to facilitate researchers’ access to public information.
If the company, backed by Asian giant PDD Holdings, the conglomerate behind e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, is found to have committed one or more violations, it could face fines that could reach 6% of its global annual turnover. In this sense, it will also have to change its practices in order to continue working in the European Union.
We wrote to Tema to find out his position on the start of the investigation. They told us that they take DSA very seriously and that I will cooperate with the authorities. In this regard, they confirm that they are in negotiations to join the “Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the sale of counterfeit products online,” a voluntary agreement facilitated by the European Commission.
“Anti-counterfeiting is an industry-wide issue, and we believe that collaborative efforts are necessary to achieve our shared goals of protecting consumers and copyright holders,” the spokesperson said. We will have to wait to see how this investigation develops. Temu currently has over 90 million active users in the EU.
Images | TOPIC | Sarah Kurfess
In Hatak | I bought a knife for cutting gift wrapping from Tema for two euros, so you don’t have to do it yourself. I don’t regret anything