France’s consumer watchdog has reported fast-fashion firm Shein to the authorities for selling childlike sex dolls.
The news comes in the wake of Shein’s announcement last month that it intends to open its first physical store in central Paris.
The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) has referred the case to public prosecutors, and Economy Minister Roland Lescure said on Monday he would seek to ban Shein from the French market if similar incidents were to occur again.
“This is provided for by law,” he said. “In cases involving terrorism, drug trafficking, or child pornographic materials, the government has the right to request that access to the French market be prohibited,” Lescure told BFM TV.
The law authorises French authorities to order online platforms to remove clearly illegal content such as child pornography within 24 hours. If they fail to comply, authorities can require internet service providers and search engines to block access and delist the site.
By Monday, the dolls had been removed from Shein’s platforms. The advertisement had also been removed from Chinese retail site AliExpress.
“It’s not just Shein, there are many others. We have been alerted to other cases,” confirmed France’s high commissioner for children, Sarah El Haïry, on Franceinfo on Monday. El Haïry announced that the government had launched broader investigations into other platforms.
Shein did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Euronews Business.
Under French law, the distribution of child-pornographic materials via electronic communication networks is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a €100,000 fine.
The watchdog also noted that Shein sells other pornographic products, including adult-like sex dolls, without effective age-filtering measures to prevent “minors or sensitive audiences from accessing such pornographic content”.
Shein was founded in China in 2012, and the low-cost online retailer is now based in Singapore. Reaching customers mainly through its app, it has enjoyed a meteoric rise to become a global leader in fast fashion, shipping to 150 countries. The company has faced criticism over its labour practices and environmental record.
Lescure’s comments come just days before Shein is due to open its first permanent physical store in Paris, located inside the BHV Marais department store in the heart of the French capital city. The opening has sparked controversy, with an online petition protesting Shein’s arrival gathering more than 100,000 signatures.