Shein gets more questions from EU about DSA compliance

A day after the European Union dialed up its scrutiny of fast-fashion giant Shein, the bloc’s executive branch said that it has sent a fresh request for information (RFI) to the e-commerce platform under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The European Commission oversees larger platforms’ compliance with a subset of DSA rules in areas like algorithmic transparency requirements, including an obligation to give data access to researchers so they can study systemic risks.

On paper, penalties for non-compliance can reach up to 6% of global annual turnover. However, the EU has yet to issue any DSA fines to any of the so-called very large online platforms (VLOPs) or search engines (VLOSE) despite starting a number of investigations and sending multiple requests for information.

The latest RFI to Shein covers a number of areas, including “internal documents and more detailed information on risks linked to the presence of illegal content and goods on its marketplace, on the transparency of its recommender systems, and on the access to data for qualified researchers.”

Per the press release, the Commission also wants more data from Shein about “measures adopted to mitigate risks relating to consumer protection, public health and users’ wellbeing,” as well as details on the protection of users’ personal data. Shein has until February 27 to respond to the RFI.

Shein was only designated a VLOP back in April last year, but EU lawmakers have expressed concern about risks stemming from low-cost e-commerce marketplaces — such as the distribution of dangerous and/or counterfeit products, or environmental harms from a flood of cheap, low-quality goods.

Competition concerns posed by the influx of low-quality goods into the EU are also preoccupying the bloc, and on Wednesday, the Commission unboxed a strategy targeting this sweep of issues. However, a lot of what was presented in the Communication on Safe and Sustainable E-Commerce is pending as it still needs to be agreed upon by co-legislators before it can be implemented.

Customs reforms is one plank of the strategy EU lawmakers are pushing for, but the proposed changes require Member State buy-in.

Meanwhile, Commission officials were keen to point out that various existing laws already apply to low-cost e-commerce platforms, from product rules to consumer protection laws and the bloc’s online governance framework.

In the latter case, enforcing relevant aspects of the DSA, which include restrictions on anti-consumer tactics like dark patterns, is squarely in the Commission’s role overseeing VLOPs’ compliance.

Today’s announcement of another RFI on Shein seems intended to keep up pressure and underscore that the bloc is already taking action. Commission spokespeople did not engage with our questions asking why the EU has not further stepped up enforcement in this area in light of clear concerns expressed yesterday on product safety and consumer protection.

While the EU is yet to open formal investigations on Shein in spite of multiple asks for info, it has — since March last year — had a DSA probe open on another marketplace, AliExpress. That probe covers issues including risk mitigation, content moderation, ad transparency, algorithmic accountability, the traceability of traders, and data access for researchers.

The EU also opened a probe on another low cost ecommerce player Temu in October 2024, saying it suspects the platform of breaching DSA rules on the sale of illegal products; addictive design; algorithmic transparency; and researcher access to public data.

Reached for comment on the RFI, Shein spokesman Jakub Adamowicz emailed a statement in which the company wrote: “We share the Commission’s goal of ensuring that consumers in the EU can shop online with peace of mind, we have received the request for information, and we are working to promptly address it.”  

This report was updated with a statement from Shein. We also correct an error: the EU has had an investigation open on Temu since October 2024