E-commerce giant Shein will be investigated by the European Commission for potential violations of the Digital Services Act for potentially illegal products, addictive design, and transparency violations.
Owen Carpenter-Zehe
E-commerce giant Shein is being investigated by the European Commission for potential violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), with the executive opening the inquiry on Tuesday (17 February).
The Brussels probe, which happens to fall on the Chinese New Year of the Fire Horse, will look into the potential sale of illegal products in the EU – for example, child-like sex dolls – the addictive design of the service, and if the platform complies with transparency requirements for the product recommender system.
“Mystery shopping has tested 27 products for kids under three-years old. Guess what? Result, all of these products, all of these toys were not compliant with EU law,” said an EU spokesperson.
“The message is pretty clear. Shein has to analyse the risks it poses to our consumers in the European Union,” added the spokesperson.
Shein was founded in China in 2008, but is now headquartered in Singapore, with the service hosting 145.7 million monthly European users.
Due to that large user base, the platform is considered a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) — a legal designation under the DSA that brings increased safety and user protection requirements.
The commission has been looking into Shein since June 2024, having sent three information requests to the platform concerning the company’s compliance with the DSA, and looking specifically into the selling of child-like sex dolls since November 2025.
In a statement to EUobserver, Shein said it will cooperate with the probe, adding: “Over the last few months, we have continued to invest significantly in measures to strengthen our compliance with the DSA.”
“Protecting minors and reducing the risk of harmful content and behaviours are central to how we develop and operate our platform. We share the authorities’ objective of ensuring a safe and trusted online environment and will continue to engage constructively,” Shein said.
Sex dolls and legal troubles
The new investigation is not the only recent legal dispute for the online storefront in the EU, with the platform embroiled in a sex doll scandal at the end of last year.
The company was taken to court by French authorities in November 2025 after the government’s consumer watchdog reported child-like sex dolls and weapons on the storefront, with the authorities aiming to suspend the platform from France.
After the French report, the company banned selling sex dolls and temporarily delisted the adult product category.
Then, in December, a Paris court rejected suspending the platform, but ruled that it must install age-verification measures before it begins selling adult products again.
In November 2025, Shein opened its first physical store in Paris.
Responding to the new EU probe, German Green MEP Anna Cavazzini, the chair of the parliament’s consumer protections committee, wrote: “It took a massive scandal involving child-like sex dolls before the European Commission took action.”
“Initiating proceedings against Shein now is the right thing to do and long overdue, so that it is clear that even online giants are not above the law. Anyone doing business in the internal market must also abide by our rules,” she added.
Beyond this current investigation, in May 2025, following a review by the EU’s Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, Shein was found to have violated several EU consumer protection laws. The network cited fake discounts, deceptive labels, and misleading sustainability claims on the website.
The European Council also agreed in December to begin imposing a €3 tax on imports valued at less than €150, a move that affects the e-commerce platform.
Currently, low-value imports can enter duty-free.
