The European Commission has launched formal proceedings against online retailer Shein over possible violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
It comes after child-like sex dolls were discovered for sale through Shein’s website.
Last month, a Shein executive told the European Parliament that the company had taken swift action to make sure the dolls were removed from their website.
The European Commission said that its investigation would scrutinise the “systems Shein has in place to limit the sale of illegal products in the European Union including content which could constitute child sexual abuse material, such as child-like sex dolls”.
Ireland’s regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, will be involved in the investigation because Shein’s European headquarters is in Dublin.
Under the Digital Services Act, each EU member state is required to designate a regulator to supervise, enforce, and monitor compliance with the law.
Coimisiún na Meán is responsible for overseeing online platforms based out of Ireland.
The European Commission will also investigate whether Shein’s website and app constitutes “addictive design” which could have “a negative impact on users’ wellbeing and consumer protection”.
Shein offers customers a rewards system allowing users to earn discounts by building up points.
A third arm of the investigation will look at the products Shein pushes through its “recommender systems”.
Under the DSA, Shein must disclose how it decides which products to recommend.
An opening of formal proceedings does not mean the company has necessarily done anything wrong or illegal, but signifies that the European Commission does have concerns.
“In the EU, illegal products are prohibited – whether they are on a store shelf or on an online marketplace”, said the European Commissioner for Tech, Henna Virkkunen.
“The Digital Services Act keeps shoppers safe, protects their wellbeing and empowers them with information about the algorithms they are interacting with. We will assess whether Shein is respecting these rules and their responsibility.”
The European Commission said it is now in the process of gathering evidence and would be in touch with Shein with “additional requests for information”.
In a statement, the European Commission said:
“The opening of formal proceedings empowers the Commission to take further enforcement steps, including interim measures or the adoption of a non-compliance decision. The Commission is also empowered to accept commitments made by Shein to remedy matters subject to the proceeding.
The DSA does not set any legal deadline for bringing formal proceedings to an end. The duration of an in-depth investigation depends on several factors, including the complexity of the case, the extent to which the company concerned cooperates with the Commission and the exercise of the rights of defence.
Moreover, the opening of formal proceedings does not prejudge its outcome or any other proceedings that the Commission may decide to initiate under other articles of the DSA.”
Shein has been contacted for its response to the launch of the investigation by the European Commission.
Coimisiún na Meán said that it was “very happy” to be supporting the European Commission in the opening of formal proceedings against Shein.
“As part of this joint effort, we have also sent a request for information to Shein, seeking further information on how it complies with its obligation to protect minors on its service, in line with the requirements of Article 28 of the DSA”, a spokesperson for Coimisiún na Meán said.
The Irish regulator said it was focused on three issues: “the accessibility of the service to minors (including the use of age assurance); measures to prevent the purchase of age-inappropriate products by minors and information on moderation guidelines and restrictions applicable to sellers on how minors can be portrayed in product images on the Shein website.”