The EU slapped a 200-million-euro ($232 million) fine on Chinese-owned online retailer Temu on Thursday for allowing the sale of illegal products, including dangerous baby toys and defective chargers.

“The company failed to diligently identify, analyse, and assess the systemic risks of illegal products being offered on its platform and the resulting harm to consumers in the European Union,” the EU said.

According to EU regulators, European consumers are “very likely to encounter illegal items” on Temu, and the company “seriously underestimated how often EU consumers are likely to” see such products.

Temu is extremely popular in the European Union, with 130 million users after entering the bloc’s market in 2023.

But it has come under fierce scrutiny since October 2024 when the EU opened its investigation, which preliminarily found in July last year that Temu had breached landmark rules over the risks of illegal products.

“Temu is a very big player in the European market,” EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen told reporters, adding that its size meant that a “very big part” of EU consumers get their hands on such illegal products.

Thursday’s fine is only the second imposed under the EU’s powerful Digital Services Act (DSA) on content, after Elon Musk’s X platform received a 120-million-euro fine in December.

Under the DSA, the world’s most popular digital platforms including social media apps and online retailers must conduct a risk assessment to understand what dangers they pose and how to tackle the risks.

The EU slammed Temu for its 2024 risk assessment that it said “falls short of the standards”, citing the discovery of baby toys, such as rattles, containing chemicals that exceeded legal safety limits, and chargers that failed basic safety tests. It also pointed to jewellery.

The European Commission said Temu failed to properly assess the platform’s design and how it “could amplify dissemination risks of illegal products”.

– EU focus on China –

The DSA is part of the EU’s bolstered legal armoury to curb what the bloc considers excesses by Big Tech, and fines can go as high as six percent of a company’s total worldwide annual turnover.

While the EU could have hit Temu with a higher fine, a European Commission official said the amount was proportionate to the breach since it concerned a risk assessment for one year where the conclusions were “clear-cut”.

Temu must now pay the fine and present a plan to the EU by August 28 that includes what action it will take to address the breaches.

If Temu does not comply, it faces periodic penalty payments.

It can also appeal the fine, as Musk has already done in the EU courts.

The EU continues to investigate other suspected breaches in the same probe including the use of addictive design features that could hurt users’ physical and mental well-being, and how Temu’s systems recommend content and products.

The fine comes a day before the EU executive is set to debate how the 27-nation bloc should approach China to level the playing field, with top EU officials warning that Europe must get tougher on China to defend its economy.

Brussels has already stepped up its anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese companies investing in Europe, and on Thursday it opened an in-depth probe into Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com’s bid for Ceconomy, a major German electronics retail group, on suspicion it was boosted by state subsidies.

Revenue receipts of the federal government in 2025 were characterized by shortfalls, leading to a fiscal deficit of N328 billion in the Third Quarter (Q3) of the year.

The 2025 Q3 Budget Implementation Report released by the Budget Office of the Federation (BoF) indicated that there was no truth in claims that the Administration of President Bola Tinubu achieved its annual revenue target by August, of 2025.

According to the report, “Revenue shortfalls persisted in both oil and non-oil receipts. Total FG revenue stood at ₦7.70 trillion and expenditure reached ₦8.03 trillion, resulting in a fiscal deficit of ₦328.57 billion, financed through privatization proceeds and domestic borrowing.”

The Aggregate FGN Revenue of N7.7 trillion in the quarter under review (July – September 2025) represented 75.16% of the prorated target, the report said.

The BoF put Aggregate Expenditure (including Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs and Project-tied Loans) at ₦8.03 trillion, about 58.4 percent of the prorated ₦13.75 trillion.

It reported a below-target performance of the oil sector as a key factor for the shortfall in revenue.

According to the report, “The price of crude oil in the international market averaged $68.50 per barrel in the third quarter of 2025, which is $5.50 per barrel (7.43 percent) and $6.50 per barrel (8.67 percent) lower than $74,00 per barrel in the second quarter and the $75.00 per barrel benchmark price for 2025 budget.

“The nation in the third quarter of 2025 recorded an average daily oil production of 1.64 million barrels, lower than the second quarter of 2025 production volume of 1.68 mbpd and the production benchmark of 2.12mbpd

“Gross Oil Revenue stood at ₦4.87 trillion in the third quarter, representing a shortfall of ₦7.88 trillion (61.80 percent) from the ₦12.76 trillion prorated quarterly gross oil revenue in the 2025 Budget.”

However, the gross non-oil revenue of ₦6.52 trillion received in the quarter under review signified a marginal increase of ₦468.58 billion (7.74 percent) above the quarterly estimate of ₦6.05 trillion.

The report showed, “The net distributable revenue for the three tiers of government after cost deductions stood at ₦10.29 trillion in the third quarter of 2025, representing a shortfall of ₦6.57 trillion (38.98 percent).”

The Q3 report highlighted the challenge posed by high debt servicing obligations of the federal government, as debt servicing took N3.41 trillion, way higher than non-debt recurrent expenditure of N2.66 trillion.

It said, “A total of ₦2.66 trillion was spent on non-debt recurrent expenditure in the third quarter of 2025. This represents a decrease of ₦739.01 billion (21.75 percent) from the quarterly estimate of ₦3.40 trillion

“Total Debt Service in the third quarter of 2025 stood at ₦3.41 trillion, indicating a decrease of ₦171.90 billion (4.80 percent) below the ₦3.58 trillion projected for the quarter.

“The sum of ₦1.80 trillion was projected for domestic debt servicing during the period under review. The amount used for domestic debt servicing was however ₦111.07 billion or 6.18 percent above the projection for the quarter.

“External debt service was ₦1.69 trillion in the quarter, ₦211.72 billion or 12.55 percent below the prorate projected figure for the period.”

The report’s upticks included Aggregate GDP at basic price which rose to ₦113.59 trillion in nominal terms in the quarter under review when compared Year-on-Year with the third quarter of 2024, which recorded an aggregate GDP of ₦96.16 trillion.

Telecommunications subscribers across Nigeria have regained access to emergency airtime lending services as major operators, Airtel and Glo, quietly restored the platforms following the suspension of the controversial Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending, DEON, Regulations 2025 by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC.

The development comes amid mounting legal pressure on the Commission after a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos ordered a halt to the enforcement of the regulations pending the determination of a suit challenging its powers over telecom-based airtime advances.

Confirming the restoration of the services, Chairman of the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria, WASPAN, Ayo Stuffman, disclosed on Monday that the platforms had resumed operations on both networks.

“As we speak, the services in question are already active on Airtel and Glo,” he said.

The return of the services has brought relief to millions of subscribers who depend on emergency airtime credit for daily communication and small-scale business operations.

Industry estimates put the annual airtime lending market at over ₦400 billion.

The FCCPC had earlier moved to regulate airtime lending platforms under the DEON Regulations 2025, insisting that such services fall within the scope of digital consumer credit and therefore require oversight to protect users from alleged abuses, including data privacy violations and unfair lending practices.

The Commission claimed it had received more than 11,000 consumer complaints linked to digital lending operations.

However, the enforcement triggered resistance from stakeholders in the telecommunications ecosystem, particularly WASPAN and other operators, who argued that airtime advances are telecom value-added services and not conventional consumer loans.

The legal dispute escalated after Justice A. Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, issued an order restraining the FCCPC from enforcing the framework, while Form 49 contempt proceedings were reportedly initiated against the Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Tunji Bello.

As at the time of putting this story together at about noon on Tuesday, MTN was yet to comply with the court order.