Shein faces European Union scrutiny over child safety and illegal products

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LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators are stepping up scrutiny of Shein’s safety measures after French authorities found illegal weapons and child-like sex dolls on the fast-fashion company’s website.

The European Commission said Tuesday it was using the 27-nation bloc’s digital rulebook to demand more information from the company on what it’s doing to protect children and to prevent illegal goods from showing up on its online marketplace.

Shein has come under fire in France after officials found the sex dolls with childlike features for sale on its website, and then discovered large quantities of illegal “Class A” weapons including firearms, knives and machetes.

The French government responded by moving to suspend access to the Shein website in France. It also asked the European Commission — the EU’s executive arm — to investigate under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, which requires online platforms to do more to protect users under threat of hefty financial penalties.

The Commission has sent a so-called request for information to Shein because “we now have serious indications that indeed Shein may be posing more systemic risks for our consumers across the entire European Union,” spokesman Thomas Regnier told a daily briefing in Brussels.

The commission wants to know, “first, what are the systems that the company has put in place to prevent these illegal goods from being sold online? Second, what has the company done to prevent minors from accessing them?” Regnier said.

Shein said it has received the request, “and we are working to promptly address it.”

The company, founded in China in 2012 and now based in Singapore, said it maintains “an ongoing and constructive dialogue with EU regulators.”