France threatens to ban e-commerce giant, Shein for selling s3x dolls with a childlike appearance

French finance minister Roland Lescure has issued a stark warning, threatening to block Chinese e-commerce giant, Sheins access to the French market after the e-commerce platform was accused of selling sex dolls with a childlike appearance.According to CNN affiliate BFMTV, the controversial dolls were available for purchase on the French version of Shein’s platform until Monday morning, prompting immediate and severe official reaction. Frances anti-fraud office, the DGCCRF, publicly accused Shein of selling the items, stating that their description and categorization on the site made it difficult to doubt the “pedopornographic nature of the content.”Minister Lescure made the government’s stance unequivocally clear to BFMTV: If these behaviors are repeated, we will be entitled to ban access to the French market for the Shein platform. These horrible objects are illegal.Shein released a statement to BFMTV confirming that all relevant products were immediately removed once flagged.  Quentin Ruffat, a spokesperson for Shein, stated, We take this situation extremely seriously. This type of content is completely unacceptable and goes against all the values we stand for. He added that the company is taking corrective action and strengthening internal mechanisms.However, French authorities have already escalated the matter, passing the case onto French prosecutors and the French telecom regulator. The DGCCRF highlighted that under French law, the sharing of pedophilic material on “electronic networks” is punishable with up to seven years imprisonment and a 100,000 fine. The sale also suggests Shein lacks sufficient safeguards against minors accessing pornographic content on its sitea separate crime.The scandal arrives at the worst possible moment for the Chinese retail giant. Shein is scheduled to open its very first brick-and-mortar store in Paris on Wednesday, which was intended to be the first of many shops across France.Frances High Commissioner for Childhood, Sarah El-Hary, has demanded that authorities work to identify both the sellers and the buyers of these dolls. This is not the first time a major online retailer has faced such a crisis; in 2018, Amazon was involved in a similar affair involving third-party sellers. The post France threatens to ban e-commerce giant,Shein for selling s3x dolls with a childlike appearance appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.