EU Asked Temu, Shein to Show Compliance With Services Act

Andrew Pollack and Jacob Gu, Bloomberg News

The Temu application arranged in Hong Kong, China, on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. In September, Pinduoduo launched Temu — a global online shopping platform that is already climbing the ranks in the US Apple Store. Photographer: Lam Yik/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- European Union antitrust officials asked Chinese online shopping sites Temu and Shein to show they are complying with the bloc’s key regulations of technology companies, including how the sites are protecting minors.

The companies have been asked to provide information on their compliance with the Digital Services Act by July 12, European Commission regulators said Friday in a statement. The commission will assess its next steps after receiving the information and could open a formal investigation, according to the statement.

Temu and Shein must show how they are protecting European consumers from illegal products, among other issues, the regulators said. The commission said it was responding to a complaint against the online sites from consumer organizations.

The EU’s Digital Services Act has strict rules to prevent the spread of misinformation for what the commission calls very large online platforms, defined as having over 45 million active users.

Temu, a unit of PDD Holdings Inc., made a leap in awareness in the US after a major advertising campaign tied to the Super Bowl in February. Online fashion site Shein had been considering an initial public offering in the US, but changed those plans to focus on going public in London.

(Updates with explanation of the act in the fourth paragraph.)