The anti-fraud unit France announced on Saturday that it had denounced the Asian internet commerce giant Shein for selling what he described as “sex dolls with childlike appearance“.
The General Directorate of Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF) stated in a statement that the “description and categorization” of the items on the Shein website “make it difficult to doubt the child pornographic nature of the content“.
Shortly after the statement, Shein announced that the dolls in question had been removed from its platform and that it had launched an internal investigation.
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On its website, the newspaper The Parisian posted a photo of one of these dolls with the body and features of a girlholding a teddy bear, as well as the explicitly sexual description that accompanies it. The dolls measure 80 centimeters.
The anti-fraud unit recalled that “the dissemination, through an electronic communications network, of representations of a pedopornographicis punishable by up to 7 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros.
Shein accumulates three fines in France
Shein has received three fines this year in France, for a total of 191 million euros (220 million dollars), for violating legislation on online cookies, fake promotionsmisleading information and for not declaring the presence of plastic microfibers in their products.
The news of the dolls comes days before the opening of a Shein store in a prestigious department store in central Paris, BHV Maraisits first physical point of sale.
That decision sparked outrage from other customers of the luxury store, and some top fashion brands pulled their products from their shelves.