The French anti-fraud authority announced on Saturday that it had reported e-commerce giant Shein. The reason is the sale of products that have been described as “sex dolls in childlike form”. The General Directorate of Competition, Consumer Affairs and Anti-Fraud (DGCCRF) said in a statement that the “description and categorization” of the articles on the Shein website leave “little doubt as to the child pornographic nature of the content.”
Shortly after the statement, Shein announced that it had removed the dolls in question from its platform. The company also launched an internal investigation. The newspaper Le Parisien published a photo of one of these dolls on its website. She has the body and features of a little girl holding a teddy bear. The doll was accompanied by an explicitly sexual description. The dolls are 80 centimeters tall. The anti-fraud authority recalled that “the dissemination of images of a ‘pedo-pornographic nature’ via an electronic communications network is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros”.
Shein has already received three fines in France this year. The total amount is 191 million euros. The penalties were imposed for breaches of online cookie legislation, false advertising and misleading information. In addition, the non-declaration of plastic microfibers in the products was criticized.
The news about the dolls comes just days before the opening of a Shein store at the prestigious Paris department store BHV Marais. This is the company’s first physical point of sale.
This decision sparked outrage among other customers of the luxury department store. As a result, some high-profile fashion brands took their products off the shelves.
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