Choice Lodges Accc Magnetic Toys Takedown Request Over Unsafe Sales
Choice filed an accc magnetic toys takedown request with the ACCC on Wednesday after finding unsafe items for sale on major online marketplaces. The consumer group asked the regulator to take action against online retailers and begin a review of Australia’s product safety laws.
Andy Thomas, Choice campaigns director, said the investigation found a flick knife, a butterfly knife and a gel blaster for sale on some online marketplaces. He called them "essentially weapons" and said, "Consumers are still being put at risk and far too many people are still being harmed."
Choice Investigation Findings
Choice said it bought and received toy-like novelty lighters and cigarettes from eBay, AliExpress and Amazon, and sky lanterns from Shein. It said all of those products are permanently banned in Australia because of the risk to children or general fire risk. Choice also said it found fake tongue piercings from AliExpress and eBay, and said they could pose a choking hazard if swallowed.
The group said the fake tongue piercings had been removed from the sites by Tuesday. It also said previous safety tests on products from online marketplaces found cots, toys and bassinets failed Australian safety standards.
ACCC Marketplace Action
The complaint landed after the ACCC asked several online marketplaces on Tuesday to take down banned and potentially deadly toys and games as part of its own investigation into small high-powered magnets. Small high-powered magnets are banned in Australia, and the regulator has already opened its first federal court action against an online marketplace, alleging Amazon failed to comply with mandatory button battery warning requirements on children’s backpacks.
Choice described the filing as a super complaint, which it can make only once a year and which compels the ACCC to respond within 90 days. Thomas said, "We’ve been shouting from the rooftops about Australia’s lax product safety laws since the 60s really" and added, "Online marketplaces [are] one of the biggest gaps in the law where they can act as an intermediary and essentially they get away with selling these non-compliant and unsafe products because the law basically doesn’t apply to them". The response window means the regulator must address the complaint, even as the separate magnet investigation continues.
What Consumers Face
Choice said a nationally representative survey found 6% of Australians who bought products online in the past two years had suffered an injury, property damage or both. Its complaint asks for action on the marketplaces where those products were found, while also pressing for a wider review of the rules that let banned items appear for sale online.
For shoppers, the immediate takeaway is straightforward: Choice has put named marketplaces and products before the regulator, and some of the disputed items have already disappeared from sale. The question now is whether the ACCC uses the complaint to push beyond takedowns and test the law that Choice says leaves those platforms outside effective product-safety enforcement.
