\n<\/p>\n
France’s anti-fraud unit said on Saturday it had reported Asian e-commerce giant Shein for selling what it described as “sex dolls with a childlike appearance”.<\/p>\n
The DGCCRF watchdog said in a statement that the “description and categorisation” of the items on Shein’s website “make it difficult to doubt the child pornography nature of the content”.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the statement, Shein announced that the dolls in question had been withdrawn from its platform and that it had launched an internal inquiry.<\/p>\n
On its website, the Le Parisien daily published a photo of one of the dolls sold on the platform, accompanied by an explicitly sexual caption.<\/p>\n
The dolls measure around 80 centimetres (30 inches) in height.\u00a0In the photo, it was pictured holding a teddy bear.<\/p>\n
“Imagine a child randomly clicking on and coming across these products while browsing the site looking for a doll,” DGCCRF official Alice Vilcot-Dutarte was quoted as saying by Le Parisien.<\/p>\n
The news comes in the wake of Shein’s announcement in October that it intended to set up shop in a prestigious department store in central Paris — its first physical outlet.<\/p>\n
Its outlet is due to open on Wednesday at BHV Marais, an iconic building that has stood across from Paris City Hall since 1856.<\/p>\n
That decision provoked outrage among other clients of the upmarket store, BHV Marais, with some top fashion brands pulling their products from its shelves.<\/p>\n
– Three fines in France –<\/p>\n
Shein, which was originally founded in China, has faced consistent criticism over working conditions at its factories and the environmental impact of its ultra-fast fashion business model.<\/p>\n
Yet the company, now headquartered in Singapore, has seen its share value skyrocket while overtaking many traditional fixtures of high street shopping in recent years.<\/p>\n
The DGCCRF warned that “the dissemination, via an electronic communications network, of child pornography is punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 euros ($116,000)”.<\/p>\n
It said it had reported the case to French prosecutors and to Arcom, France’s online and broadcasting regulator.<\/p>\n
France has already fined Shein three times in 2025 for a total of 191 million euros.<\/p>\n
Those were imposed for failing to comply with online cookie legislation, false advertising, misleading information and not declaring the presence of plastic microfibres in its products.<\/p>\n
The European Commission is also investigating Shein over risks linked to illegal products, while EU lawmakers have approved legislation aimed at curbing the environmental impact of fast fashion.<\/p>\n
mpa\/jj\/sbk<\/p>\n<\/div>\n