The European Commission, has announced a probe into online retail giant Amazon to see how its consumer protection measures stack up against a new EU internet regulation law.
The request for information focuses on Amazon’s risk assessment and mitigation measures required under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), “in particular with regard to the dissemination of illegal products and the protection of fundamental rights,” said a commission statement.
It also looks at Amazon’s system of making personalised product recommendations — based on a user’s data — and what options users have to refuse them.
Amazon has until December 6 to respond.
The company responded by saying “we are reviewing this request and working closely with the European Commission”.
It said in a statement it has invested “significantly in protecting our store from bad actors, illegal content, and in creating a trustworthy shopping experience” and stressed it had worked towards DSA compliance.
Brussels’ investigation is only an initial step permitted under the DSA, which came into force in August for the biggest platforms, and does not itself constitute an indication of legal violations or a move towards punishment.
The commission has already launched a raft of other probes against big online platforms seeking information about how they are complying with the DSA.
An investigation similar to the one into US giant Amazon has already been started into Chinese rival AliExpress, also looking at what it is doing to protect consumers from the sale of illegal products.
Other probes, more focused on measures to curb online misinformation and illegal content have been launched into X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Meta and YouTube.
Should a platform be found to infringe the DSA it risks EU fines that could go up to six percent of global turnover.
