Accounts accused of impersonating the Shein brand have been suspended.
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The parent company of Shein has accused rival fast fashion company Temu of online impersonation.
Shein is also suing Twitter to reveal whether Temu was behind fake accounts that used its trademark.
Twitter has refused to comply with a subpoena on the grounds that it violates privacy law.
The parent company for Shein is aiming at Twitter in its pursuit of knocking down copycat accounts online, suing the social media giant to force it to reveal who is behind anonymous accounts impersonating the fast fashion company.
In a court filing reviewed by Insider, Roadget Business Pte. Ltd., the Singapore-based parent company of the Chinese brand Shein, argues that fake Twitter accounts use Shein trademarks to advertise non-Shein products and damage the brand’s reputation.
Shein — a company with a reputation for extremely low-cost clothes and allegations of labor violations — has alleged that a rival fast fashion company, Temu, is behind the fake accounts and is seeking to reveal the IP addresses and advertising identification numbers of the accounts, messages sent and received by the fakes, and access to the accounts’ device address books and the phone numbers of their contacts, if linked to Twitter.
The allegations against Temu come as the rivalry between the two Chinese fast fashion sites heats up: In May, US spending on Temu was 20% higher than on Shein, Insider previously reported.
Twitter has so far refused to comply with a subpoena for account information filed in February, according to a complaint by Roadget Business filed in June, on the grounds that Roadget Business’ request violates existing privacy law under the Stored Communications Act.
“Twitter further objects to the Subpoena because you have provided no documentation demonstrating that the Court considered and imposed the First Amendment safeguards required before a litigant may be permitted to unmask the identity of an anonymous speaker,” lawyers for Twitter wrote in response to Shein’s request for data.
The official Shein account remains active and is verified on Twitter. Accounts listed in the filing of impersonating the brand, such as @SHEIN_NYC have been suspended.
Accounts accused of impersonating the Shein brand have been suspended.
Screenshot/Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
Lawyers for Roadget Business and representatives for Temu did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment. The Twitter press team replied with an automated response.
Roadget Business’ legal team has argued they will continue to pursue Twitter account information about the impersonator accounts, citing concerns over its trademarks and brand safety on the platform.
“We understand that any further attempt to resolve this without Court intervention is futile,” Roadget Business lawyers ominously wrote to Twitter’s legal team in May. “We will proceed accordingly.”