Paris prosecutor investigates four platforms after 'child-like' sex doll listings

The Paris prosecutor’s office opened investigations into four ecommerce platforms on Monday evening – China’s Shein, Temu, AliExpress, and US-based Wish – after concerns were raised about the sale of child-like sex dolls.

French consumer watchdog (DGCCRF) submitted reports about “the sale of sexual objects resembling children” to the Paris prosecutor office, according to a press email issued by the prosecutor’s office on Tuesday.

The consumer watchdog also raised concerns about children’s access to adult content on the platforms.

Euractiv reported on Shein’s referral to the Paris prosecutor yesterday.

Criminal probes

The criminal investigations have been handed to a specialised French police department, called the minors office (OFMIN), which will be in charge of conducting the inquiries.

The unit will aim to determine whether the four platforms are responsible for disseminating pornography to minors – a crime that’s prosecutable by up to three years in jail and a €75,000 fine, per the Paris prosecutor.

In the case of Shein and AliExpress, the prosecutor said police will also look into whether they’re responsible for creating a pornographic depiction of a minor – a crime that can lead to five years in jail, as well as a fine of the same size, on conviction.

An AliExpress spokesperson told us it had removed the products concerned, which it described as “strictly prohibited” under its seller terms. It also said it would be taking measures against any third-party sellers involved.

Shein pointed to a press statement from yesterday evening in which it pledged to take action against resellers that went against its rules. It also said it had banned “sex dolls” and temporarily delisted its adult category.

A spokesperson for Temu said it’s working with the DGCCRF to “strengthen our system for protecting minors”.

Wish was also contacted for comment but had not replied at the time of publication.

EU scrutiny

Under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Commission has an oversight role on three of the four platforms now being investigated in France.

Back in June, it preliminarily found that AliExpress had breached the online governance rulebook by failing to mitigate risks related to spread of illegal products.

This summer, Temu was also preliminarily found by the Commission to have breached the DSA in relation to selling illegal products after it conducted a mystery shopping exercise in July.

Shein has not faced a formal DSA probe – but the Commission requested information from it about the alleged sale of illegal products back in February.

(nl)

UPDATE: Updated at 13:30 on 5 November to clarify additional concerns raised by the consumer watchdog and with a correction: four platforms are being investigated over whether they exposed minors to pornography (not for disseminating child porn). We also included comment from Temu