US EditionEU probes Shein over sale of illegal products, addictive design
The EU's Digital Services Act probe targets Shein's sale of illegal goods, addictive platform features, and opaque recommendation algorithms, with fines up to 6% of global turnover.
- The European Commission opened formal DSA proceedings on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, launching a probe into Shein's EU operations after preliminary analyses.
- Following last year's French findings, authorities uncovered child-like sex dolls and illegal weapons on Shein's site, while its Paris store opening sparked protests and gathered more than 120,000 petition signatures.
- Brussels will examine whether Shein's `addictive design`, recommender systems transparency, and safeguards against illegal products including child sexual abuse material meet EU rules.
- If breaches are found, the European Commission can impose interim measures, accept commitments, or levies fines up to 6% of global annual turnover; it will carry out in‑depth investigation measures with no fixed deadline and a final decision could come this year.
- The probe signals intensified policing of low-priced Chinese imports that Brussels says pose consumer dangers and complements EU consumer-law enforcement, with a final decision possible this year.
85 Articles
85 Articles
The European Commission launched formal proceedings against Shein on Tuesday under the Digital Services Regulation. They said in a statement that they were investigating the company for the addictive nature of the platform, the lack of transparency in its recommendation systems, and the sale of illegal products, including child sexual abuse material. Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Securi…
The European Commission has launched formal proceedings against Shein, a Chinese global online goods store, for its addictive design, lack of transparency in its recommendation system, and the sale of illegal products, including child sexual abuse material, reports N1.
In addition to the sale of illegal products, the European Commission aims, through the procedure opened on Tuesday 17 February, at the "addictive" aspects of the platform and the lack of transparency of its algorithms.
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