Chinese language-founded style and e-commerce large Shein has introduced a worldwide ban on all sex-doll merchandise after French authorities accused it of promoting dolls resembling youngsters and warned the corporate might face a market ban in France.
In response to AFP, France’s anti-fraud workplace DGCCRF stated listings on Shein’s web site featured dolls that appeared “childlike” and have been of a probable pornographic nature. The Paris prosecutors’ workplace confirmed that investigations had been opened in opposition to Shein, AliExpress, Temu, and Want for distributing “messages which can be violent, pornographic or improper” and accessible to minors.
As reported by CNN, Shein eliminated the merchandise instantly after receiving the warning from France and launched an inside evaluate. The corporate later introduced a “full ban on all sex-doll-type merchandise.”
It additionally quickly eliminated its grownup merchandise class for additional evaluate. An organization spokesperson instructed AFP that the ban applies worldwide.
“These publications got here from third-party distributors, however I take private duty,” stated Shein’s govt chairman Donald Tang, including that “the combat in opposition to baby exploitation is non-negotiable for Shein.”
France’s finance minister Roland Lescure instructed BFMTV that the federal government might legally block Shein’s entry to the French market if such violations occur once more.
“These horrible objects are unlawful,” he stated, stressing that France would take agency motion in opposition to the retailer.
In response to the Related Press (AP), underneath French legislation, distributing child-pornographic materials on-line can result in as much as seven years in jail and a €100,000 nice.
The controversy comes simply days earlier than Shein’s first bodily retailer opening in Paris’s BHV Marais division retailer, a transfer already dealing with backlash from activists and lawmakers. Some manufacturers have pulled their merchandise from BHV following the scandal.
Shein has already been fined thrice in 2025 in France for cookie legislation violations, false promoting, deceptive info, and undeclared plastic microfibres.
