On Friday, the European Union (EU) added Chinese e-commerce group Temu to the list of major e-tailers subjected to tighter regulations under the Union’s new Digital Services Act (DSA), according to an EU official.

Temu has been making lightning-fast progress in Europe thanks to its rock-bottom pricing strategy, and has become the 24th site, alongside Amazon, Shein and Zalando, on which the EU authorities have imposed extremely strict regulations to protect consumers against illegal content. The information was revealed to the AFP agency by an anonymous source.

Temu is the international incarnation of Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, founded in 2015, and commercialises a huge range of products, including apparel, toys, home decoration goods, DIY tools, electronics, high-tech gadgets and more.

Temu, which has more than 75 million monthly users in the EU, has recently been accused by various consumer associations of manipulating web users, and violating several of the DSA’s provisions. Temu is reportedly using deceptive interfaces known as ‘dark patterns’ to prompt customers to spend more, according to the European Bureau of Consumers’ Association (BEUC), which has lodged a complaint with the European Commission.

In February, the DSA imposed new obligations on all online platforms to better protect users from illegal content. Temu will have to comply with these new rules by the end of September.
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DSA rules violators could be fined up to 6% of their annual global revenue, or even be banned from operating in Europe.