France moves to suspend Shein website amid sex doll probe

THE French government said on Wednesday it would suspend the Shein digital platform until the Asian e-commerce giant complied with French legislation, as controversy swirled over the online sale of childlike sex dolls.

The announcement came as Shein opened its first brick-and-mortar store in the world in Paris amid a heavy police presence.

“On the instructions of the prime minister, the government is initiating the procedure to suspend Shein for the time necessary for the platform to demonstrate to the public authorities that all of its content is finally in compliance with our laws and regulations,” the office of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said.

“An initial review will be conducted by ministers within the next 48 hours.”

Separately, the fast-fashion retailer said that it was suspending products from third-party sellers in France. A source close to the matter told AFP this announcement was unrelated to the government action against the online platform.

The discovery of sex dolls on Shein’s website triggered a political outcry in France.

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The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened investigations against Shein, and also rival online retailer AliExpress, over the sale of the sex dolls.

Shein, which was founded in China in 2012 but is now based in Singapore, has pledged to cooperate with French authorities and announced it was banning all sex dolls on its platform.

In a new development, prosecutors said a man, already convicted of sexual assault, was arrested after ordering a childlike sex doll from China.

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Employees of a delivery company alerted police in the southern town of Bouc-Bel-Air after discovering a sex doll “in a package from China”, prosecutors in Aix-en-Provence said.

The parcel did not come from Shein, prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon told AFP.

The man, taken into custody, had previously been convicted of sexual assault and “admitted to having ordered the doll for sexual purposes,” the prosecutor’s office said. AFP