Over the course of the past weekend, France’s Directorate General of Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF)—the governmental body responsible for monitoring consumer protection, competition compliance, and the suppression of fraudulent practices—issued a highly charged and controversial press release that sent ripples through both the media and the global retail industry. The communication centered on serious allegations against Shein, the Singapore-based e-commerce behemoth with Chinese origins, asserting that the company had permitted the marketing and sale of so-called child-like sex dolls through its online platform. The accusation was particularly alarming because it implied a potential breach of French and international laws concerning child exploitation, an issue considered among the most serious violations in consumer and criminal regulation.
Soon after the DGCCRF’s statement was made public, several other news outlets shared carefully selected, workplace-safe images depicting the dolls in question. These photographs, though sanitized for public viewing, nonetheless appeared to represent figures unmistakably resembling young children. To the casual observer, the explicit “sexual” element cited in the allegations was not immediately visible from these visual materials, yet the regulatory body’s assessment was clear and categorical. The agency declared that the way these products were presented, described, and categorized on the website left little room for doubt as to their illicit nature, specifically invoking the term “child pornography” to describe the concern raised by the items’ portrayal.
The unfolding controversy drew immediate political attention. According to reporting by *The New York Times*, France’s Minister of the Economy, Roland Lescure, publicly condemned the products with unambiguous language and warned that the government was prepared to impose severe consequences if corrective measures were not taken. In particular, Lescure stated that Shein could face an outright ban from operating in France should the offending dolls remain available on its site. His declaration that such “horrible objects are illegal” underscored the state’s zero-tolerance stance toward materials that appear to sexualize the image of minors.
In response to the mounting criticism and the prospect of regulatory retaliation, Shein acted swiftly to distance itself from the scandal. The company removed not only the specific dolls identified in the DGCCRF’s report but also all sex dolls from its global platform, regardless of type or origin. Donald Tang, Shein’s executive chairman, addressed the situation in comments reported by *The Guardian*, acknowledging that the items originated from independent third-party vendors operating through Shein’s marketplace system. Nonetheless, he took personal responsibility for the incident, recognizing that the company’s overarching duty of oversight could not be deflected to external sellers. This gesture, while partly a public relations necessity, also reflected an awareness of corporate accountability in an era when digital intermediaries are increasingly scrutinized for what appears on their virtual storefronts.
The timing of this revelation added further complexity to Shein’s public relations challenges. The discovery of the controversial listings coincided with widespread demonstrations protesting the company’s planned opening of a physical retail store in Paris later that same week. Critics, already skeptical of Shein’s labor practices, environmental impact, and opaque supply chain, seized upon the incident as further evidence of the brand’s disconnect with ethical and cultural sensitivities. The incident consequently amplified broader debates surrounding the role of fast-fashion giants and online marketplaces in maintaining rigorous product oversight across vast global networks of third-party sellers.
Adding an almost surreal note to the series of missteps, observers recalled a previous, relatively minor controversy from the summer months. In that case, one of Shein’s product listings—a floral-print men’s shirt—had featured an image of a strikingly handsome male model who bore an uncanny resemblance to what appeared to be an AI-generated depiction of a well-known entrepreneur, Luigi Mangioni, an individual associated in headlines with alleged corporate intrigue. Although that earlier episode amounted to little more than a peculiar public-relations lapse, the cumulative effect of repeated irregularities has come to symbolize the ongoing challenges facing Shein’s automated content and vendor management systems. Together, these episodes underscore the urgent and growing need for more robust ethical controls, systematic screening, and regulatory accountability within modern online marketplaces.
Sourse: https://gizmodo.com/these-horrible-objects-are-illegal-french-authorities-discover-alleged-child-sex-dolls-on-shein-2000681038
