EU Investigates Shein for Illegal Products and Addictive Design

The European Commission has launched a formal investigation into the fast fashion e-commerce platform Shein under the bloc's Digital Services Act, focusing on the sale of illegal products and concerns over the platform's potentially addictive design features.

The probe, announced on Tuesday, examines whether Shein has adequate safeguards to prevent the distribution of prohibited items, including those constituting child mistreatment material such as childlike sex dolls. It also scrutinizes the company's use of gamification elements, like points and rewards systems that encourage frequent user engagement, and the transparency of its algorithmic recommendation tools, which suggest products to consumers. As a designated very large online platform with over 45 million monthly users in the EU, Shein must comply with stringent rules to mitigate systemic risks to users, including protecting minors from harmful content and ensuring options for non-profiling-based recommendations.

The investigation stems from incidents in France last year, where authorities discovered illegal weapons, such as firearms and knives, alongside childlike sex dolls on Shein's marketplace. French officials...