The European Commission today opened formal proceedings against Shein under the Digital Services Act, targeting the fast-fashion platform over the sale of illegal products - including items that could constitute child sexual abuse material - as well as addictive design features and a lack of transparency in its recommender systems. The action, announced in Brussels on February 17, 2026, marks a significant escalation of regulatory scrutiny that has been building for nearly two years.

145 million users, three areas of concern

The scale of Shein's European footprint makes the investigation consequential. According to the Commission's press release, 145 million consumers in the EU use Shein for online shopping. That figure positions the platform firmly among Europe's most-used digital marketplaces, and it is precisely that reach that has drawn regulators' attention.

The proceedings focus on three distinct areas. First, the Commission will examine the systems Shein has in place to limit the sale of illegal products in the EU, including content that could constitute child sexual abuse material, such as child-like sex dolls. Second, investigators will scrutinize the addictive design of the service - specifically mechanisms that give consumers points or rewards for engagement and gamify the shopping experience in ways that regulators believe could harm user wellbeing. Third, the investigation targets the transparency of recommender systems that Shein deploys to surface content and products to its users.

On that last point, the DSA sets a clear standard. According to the Commission's announcement, Shein must disclose the main parameters used in its recommender systems and must provide users with at least one easily accessible option that is not based on profiling for each recommender system. The investigation will assess whether the company has met that obligation.

Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, was direct in framing the action. "In the EU, illegal products are prohibited - whether they are on a store shelf or on an online marketplace," she said in a statement published alongside the press release. "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."

A process two years in the making

Today's action did not come without warning. According to the Commission's background section, the decision follows preliminary analyses of risk assessment reports provided by Shein, replies to formal requests for information, and data shared by third parties. The Commission sent its first formal request for information to Shein on June 28, 2024. A second followed on February 6, 2025. A third was dispatched on November 26, 2025. Each sought more detail on the company's compliance with the DSA, with particular focus on consumers' and minors' protection and on the transparency of its recommender systems.

The opening of formal proceedings is therefore the culmination of an information-gathering phase that spanned roughly 20 months. It does not prejudge the outcome, the Commission stressed, and it does not carry any immediate financial penalty. What it does do is empower the Commission to take further enforcement steps - including interim measures or a formal non-compliance decision - and to accept commitments made by Shein to remedy the matters under investigation.

What mystery shopping revealed

Thomas Regnier, the Commission spokesperson for Tech Sovereignty, Defence, Space, Research and Innovation, provided a pointed illustration of the safety failures at stake. In a LinkedIn post published today, he noted that mystery shopping tests had been conducted on 27 toys sold on Shein for children under 3 years old. "Guess what? All tested were in breach of EU law," Regnier wrote, describing the finding as a clear message that Shein "has to take its responsibility to protect consumers in the EU."

That finding connects to a broader enforcement environment. The formal proceedings under the DSA are described as complementary to an ongoing coordinated action led by the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer protection authorities. They also run alongside market surveillance actions concerning the General Product Safety Regulation, including follow-up to a first product safety sweep focusing on childcare articles carried out in 2025.

Ireland's role and next steps

Coimisiún na Meán, the Digital Services Coordinator for Ireland, will be associated with the Commission investigation, acting as the national authority for the country where Shein is established in the EU. This arrangement mirrors the structure used in other DSA investigations, where the Digital Services Coordinator of a company's country of establishment participates alongside the Commission.

The next steps are procedural but consequential. The Commission will continue gathering evidence through additional information requests to Shein or third parties, monitoring actions, and interviews. The DSA sets no legal deadline for concluding formal proceedings; the duration depends on case complexity, the degree to which Shein cooperates, and the exercise of rights of defence.

Pattern fits a broader enforcement wave

The Shein investigation does not exist in isolation. It is part of a broader enforcement pattern that has seen the Commission pursue multiple DSA cases against large platforms since the regulation became fully operational in February 2024.

The Brussels action against TikTok over addictive design - covering infinite scroll, autoplay, and push notifications - was published earlier this month, on February 6, 2026. That case resulted in preliminary findings of breach, with potential fines of up to 6% of ByteDance's global annual turnover if confirmed. The parallels with Shein are direct: addictive design and recommender system opacity appear in both cases.

The Commission also found TikTok and Meta in preliminary breach of DSA transparency rules in October 2025, specifically around researcher data access and content moderation mechanisms. And in January 2026, the Commission extended its ongoing proceedings against X to cover Grok's deployment, which focused in part on the risk of child sexual abuse material - the same category now cited in the Shein case.

The Commission issued a €120 million fine against X on December 5, 2025 for DSA transparency violations, marking the first non-compliance decision under the regulation. That precedent demonstrates the Commission's willingness to move from proceedings to financial penalties.

What this means for platform design and advertising

For the digital advertising industry, the Shein investigation carries specific implications that extend beyond compliance departments. Shein has been a significant advertiser across major digital platforms. Research published in October 2025 by Originality.ai showed Shein's AI-generated review rate had increased by 1,569% between 2018 and 2024, reaching 9.93% of all reviews analyzed. That data point illustrated the degree to which automated systems have become embedded in the platform's content ecosystem - precisely the kind of opacity that DSA regulators are now investigating.

Shein's advertising footprint in Europe is considerable. Italian influencer advertising data from May-June 2025 showed Shein leading Instagram activity with 236 posts generating more than 12 million likes and 120,960 comments, and running 47 advertisements on TikTok targeting 387,400 followers. A formal DSA investigation does not automatically affect those advertising operations, but a non-compliance decision - particularly one involving illegal product categories - could carry operational consequences that affect the entire advertising supply chain connected to the platform.

The recommender systems angle also carries direct relevance for ad-tech professionals. The DSA's requirement for at least one non-profiling-based option in each recommender system has significant downstream effects on how personalised advertising inventory is structured and sold. Any commitments Shein makes to the Commission to remedy this - or any binding decision that emerges - could alter how the platform delivers content to its 145 million European users, changing the audience dynamics that advertisers rely on.

Regulatory architecture and limits of DSA enforcement

The DSA became fully operational for all platforms on February 17, 2024 - exactly two years before today's proceedings against Shein were announced. Very Large Online Platforms are defined as those serving more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU, a threshold Shein clearly meets given its 145 million user figure.

The regulation does not set a legal deadline for concluding investigations. The TikTok proceedings, for context, were launched on February 19, 2024, and formal preliminary findings of breach on addictive design were only published on February 6, 2026 - nearly two years later. The Shein case could follow a similarly lengthy timeline, particularly if the company contests the Commission's findings at each procedural stage.

The Commission is also empowered to accept commitments from Shein if the company offers to remedy the matters under investigation. This route - used in the TikTok advertising transparency investigation, which was closed through binding commitments in December 2025 - allows proceedings to conclude without a formal finding of non-compliance.

Complaints about Chinese platforms have wider context

Data protection complaints filed in Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands had previously targeted SHEIN, Temu, WeChat, and Xiaomi over data transfer practices, according to reporting on the TikTok DSA case published by PPC Land. Those complaints are separate from the DSA proceedings but illustrate the multi-front regulatory environment that Chinese-origin platforms now navigate in Europe.

Temu, which operates a broadly similar business model, has faced its own regulatory and market pressures. Its abrupt withdrawal from U.S. Google Shopping on April 9, 2025, following the Trump administration's escalation of tariffs on Chinese imports to 125%, demonstrated how quickly advertising strategies can collapse under regulatory or trade pressure. That precedent is not lost on observers of the Shein proceedings.

Timeline

Summary

Who: The European Commission, with the Digital Services Coordinator for Ireland (Coimisiún na Meán) associated to the investigation, acting against Shein, the fast-fashion online marketplace.

What: Formal proceedings opened under the Digital Services Act covering three areas: the sale of illegal products (including content constituting child sexual abuse material and child-like sex dolls), addictive design features including rewards and gamification, and lack of transparency in recommender systems. Mystery shopping on 27 toys for children under 3 sold on Shein found all tested items in breach of EU law.

When: The formal proceedings were opened on February 17, 2026. The process builds on three formal information requests sent to Shein on June 28, 2024; February 6, 2025; and November 26, 2025.

Where: The investigation is conducted from Brussels by the European Commission. Shein is established in the EU through Ireland, which is why Coimisiún na Meán is associated to the action. The platform operates across all 27 EU member states, reaching 145 million European consumers.

Why: The Commission determined that preliminary analyses of Shein's risk assessment reports, its replies to information requests, and data from third parties provided sufficient grounds to open formal in-depth proceedings. The action follows an established enforcement pattern under the DSA targeting addictive platform design, algorithmic opacity, and illegal product listings - issues that regulators have pursued against TikTok, Meta, and X in parallel proceedings.

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