France refers Shein to Paris prosecutor over sale of 'child-like' sex dolls
The Commission sent Shein info requests about illegal products, under the bloc's Digital Services Act, earlier this year but has so far not opened a formal probe
Fast-fashion online retailer Shein has been referred to the Paris prosecutor’s office by the country’s consumer watchdog over concerns about the sale of sex dolls with a childlike appearance.
French consumer and competition authorities raised the disturbing allegations over the weekend. The French consumer watchdog (DGCCRF) said it had found Shein selling “child-like” sex dolls, whose “description and categorisation on the site leave little doubt as to the child pornography nature of the content”.
DGCCRF has also referred the case to ARCOM, France’s digital services coordinator – which is responsible for enforcing the EU’s online governance rulebook, the Digital Services Act (DSA), in France.
Speaking to French media on Monday, Economy Minister Roland Lescure warned that the platform could face being expelled from the market. “If these behaviours are repeated, I will request that access to the Shein platform be banned from the French market,” he said.
Under French law, website blocking can be ordered either by national judicial authorities or by an administrative authority, which may issue an injunction requiring a platform to remove illegal or illicit content within 24 hours, according to a statement from French Digital Minister Anne Le Henanff’s office.
In an emailed statement to Euractiv on Saturday, Quentin Ruffat, a Shein spokesperson, said the products in question were “immediately” removed from the platform. The company is “taking this situation extremely seriously”, he added.
Shein has been designated as a very large online platform (VLOP) under the DSA since April 2024. While the European Commission, which oversees VLOPs, has not opened a formal investigation against the retailer, back in February it requested information from Shein about the alleged sale of illegal products.
Asked about the French action during a daily briefing with reporters on Monday, Thomas Regnier, the Commission’s digital spokesperson, said that the EU’s executive is “in close touch with our French counterparts on this [French investigation]”.
He added that the Commission would “not hesitate to take action if needed, but for now, this case is ongoing in France”.
Euractiv’s Théophane Hartmann contributed reporting
(nl)
