Chinese online retailer Temu latest to face EU’s strictest level of digital scrutiny

The European Union said Friday that it's adding Chinese online retailer Temu to its list of platforms facing the bloc's highest level of digital scrutiny.

Because it has more than 45 million users, Temu is being classed as a "very large online platform" under the the EU's Digital Services Act, a wide-ranging rulebook designed to clean up online platforms and keep internet users safe.

That means that by September 2024 Temu will be required to obey the DSA's most stringent rules and obligations, which include assessing and mitigating "systemic risks."

"Temu must put in place mitigation measures to address risks, such as the listing and sale of counterfeit goods, unsafe products, and items that infringe on intellectual property rights," the European Commission, the 27 nation bloc's executive arm, said in a press release.

The company could do this by taking...