China’s Shein pulls child-like sex dolls from sale following French watchdog complaint

A page from the Shein website is shown in this photo, in New York, Friday, June 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

PARIS -- Chinese online retailer Shein has pulled from sale childlike sex dolls after they were found on its website by the French consumer watchdog, the company said on Sunday.

France’s Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) had said late on Saturday it spotted the dolls on the website along with several other pornographic items such as adult-looking sex dolls, and had reported the matter to judicial authorities.

“Their description and categorization on the site leave little doubt as to the child pornography nature of the content,” DGCCRF said in a statement.

The agency added that no filtering measures effectively limit access on the website to this pornographic content for minors or sensitive audiences.

Contacted by Reuters, 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.”

It added that “Shein has a zero-tolerance policy towards any content or products that violate our internal policies or applicable laws.”

The Chinese fast-fashion company is set to open a physical store, its first in France, on Wednesday, at the Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (BVH) in Paris. It has come under fire from conventional French apparel retailers, who say Shein is undermining their business model with its ultra-low prices.

Shein also plans to open five other stores within Galeries Lafayette department stores, in Angers, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges and Reims.

(Reporting by Kate Entringer and Geert De Clercq)