French Minister of Economy Roland Lescure has threatened to block access in France to Chinese company Shein over the sale of childlike sex dolls on its French website.
“There will be a judicial investigation to determine why these products ended up on this platform,” the minister said today.
“If this behaviour is repeated, we would be entitled to ban the platform from the French market. For child pornography, the government has the right to request that access to the French market be prohibited,” he added.
Acknowledging enforcement limits, Roland Lescure admitted: “We know, it’s possible to get around French law using VPNs. France doesn’t currently have the means to fight that. But we’ve passed a very strict law, and we will enforce it.”
Shein had pulled the dolls from the French website following a complaint from the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control (DGCCRF).
“Their description and categorisation on the site leave little doubt as to the child pornography nature of the content,” DGCCRF said in a statement.
Reuters reported that Shein said in an email: “The products in question were immediately removed from the platform as soon as we became aware of these major shortcomings.”
The agency added that no filtering measures effectively limit access to the website to this pornographic content for minors or sensitive audiences.
The controversy comes as the Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein is set to open its first permanent store on November 5 at the Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (BHV) department store in central Paris.
French apparel retailers have been protesting and arguing the company is undermining their business model with its ultra-low prices.
Roland described Shein’s store and advertisements as a “provocation”, warning that authorities “will take action” if any of the items sold in the Paris store were found to be illegal.
