European Union: Opened European Commission formal investigation into Temu related to alleged infringement of the Digital Services Act

On 31 October 2024, the European Commission opened a formal procedure to assess whether Temu may have infringed the Digital Service Act (DSA). The investigation will focus on four areas. The first is the potential sale of non-compliant products and whether Temu had systems in place to limit their sale, such as the suspension of rogue traders. The second is risks associated with the potentially addictive design of the service, for instance, the use of game-like reward programs. The third is whether Temu is in compliance with obligations the disclose the main parameters associated with recommendation systems and provide users with at least one recommendation option that does not rely on consumer profiling. The fourth is whether Temu is in compliance with the DSA requirement to provide researchers with access to Temu's publicly available data. The Commission will continue to collect evidence, for instance, by sending requests for additional information to Temu or third parties. There is no legal deadline for the ending of this formal procedure, and the opening does not prejudge its outcome or any other procedure the Commission may decide to open.