Paris (AFP) – Asian e-commerce giant Shein said Monday it was banning sex dolls from sale on its sites globally after French authorities condemned it for featuring ones resembling children. France’s finance minister had threatened to ban the retailer from the country if it resumed selling the childlike dolls, just days before it opens its first physical store in Paris.
The Paris prosecutors’ office said it had opened investigations against Shein, and also rival online retailer AliExpress, over the sale of sex dolls. The probes were also for distributing “messages that are violent, pornographic or improper, (and) accessible to minors,” the office told AFP. The investigations were launched after France’s anti-fraud unit reported on Saturday that Shein was selling “childlike” dolls of a likely pornographic nature. French daily Le Parisien published a photo of one of the dolls sold on the platform, accompanied by an explicitly sexual caption. The pictured doll measured around 80 centimetres (30 inches) in height and held a teddy bear.
Shortly after the fraud watchdog’s statement, Shein announced the dolls had been withdrawn from its platform and it had launched an internal inquiry. It later announced, in a statement on Monday, that it was imposing a “total ban on sex-doll-type products” and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. A spokesperson told AFP the ban applied globally. “These publications came from third-party vendors, but I take personal responsibility,” said Shein’s chief executive Donald Tang.
France’s finance Minister Roland Lescure had warned Monday he would move to ban the company from the French market if the items returned online. “These horrible items are illegal,” he told the BFMTV broadcaster, promising a judicial investigation. Shein said it was setting up a dedicated team to ensure the “integrity” of content on the sales platform. France’s high commissioner for childhood, Sarah El Hairy, said several websites were being investigated, after French media reported Chinese shopping platform AliExpress sold the same dolls. AliExpress said it had immediately removed the items from its website. The anti-fraud office said in a statement later Monday that it was taking legal action against AliExpress for selling “child-porn-style dolls”.
Shein is due on Wednesday to open its first physical store in the world inside the prestigious BHV Marais department store in central Paris, a move that has sparked outrage in France. Frederic Merlin, the director of the company that owns BHV, said selling the childlike dolls was “unacceptable,” but on Monday defended his decision to allow Shein into the department store. “Only clothes and items conceived directly by Shein for BHV will be sold in store,” he said.
Shein, a Singapore-based company which was originally founded in China, has faced criticism over working conditions at its factories and the environmental impact of its ultra-fast fashion business model. Some brands have pulled their products from BHV Marais since the announcement. France has already fined Shein three times in 2025 for a total of 191 million euros ($220 million). Those sanctions 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. 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.
© 2024 AFP
