PARIS—French Finance Minister Roland Lescure has threatened to ban fast-fashion platform Shein from the country's digital space after a consumer watchdog spotted what it considered to be "child-like" sex dolls sold on the popular e-commerce marketplace, notes the wire service Reuters.
Lescure said that these products are "illegal."
He added, "For terrorist acts, drug trafficking, and child pornography, the government has the right to request banning access to the French market." Such a threat arises as Shein opens its first-ever brick-and-mortar permanent shop, located in central Paris at the historic BHV department store.
The French government is also probing alleged underage access to pornography made possible through Shein's marketplace and its competitor platforms—Temu, AliExpress and Wish. This is a breach of the law, note regulators, including the infraction of allowing minors to access adult porn without being age verified.
A consumer advisory was issued by the consumer watchdog, the French government's Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control. The agency reportedly "found that the e-commerce site Shein was selling child-like sex dolls," and the listings were reported to a public prosecutor for investigation.
The directorate-general also advised that "these activities have been reported to ARCOM, the competent regulatory body in this area, and, in agreement with the public prosecutor, a report has been filed with the platform, urging it to implement appropriate measures promptly."
A spokesperson for Shein's operations in France, Quentin Ruffat, the head of public affairs, explained to a local radio station, as reported by Reuters, that the company is cooperating with the investigation by sharing information, including the names, vendors and buyers of the banned dolls.
AliExpress is also being investigated over alleged dissemination of images or representations of minors of a pornographic nature, which can lead to five years in prison.
Major Chinese multinational e-commerce conglomerates own platforms like Shein, AliExpress and Temu. A Singaporean parent company owns Wish.
