French probe pushes company to ban dolls of pornographic nature
E-commerce company Shein has announced it will ban sex dolls from sale on its sites, after French authorities condemned the company for featuring some that resembled children.
In a statement on Monday, the company said that it was imposing a “total ban on sex-doll-type products” and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. A spokesperson told the AFP news agency the ban applied globally.
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“These publications came from third-party vendors, but I take personal responsibility,” said Shein’s chief executive, Donald Tang.
Just days before Shein was due to open its first physical store in Paris, France’s finance minister threatened to ban the retailer from the country if it continued selling the childlike dolls.
The Paris prosecutors’ office said it had opened investigations against Shein, and also rival online retailers, over the sale of sex dolls. The investigations were launched after France’s anti-fraud unit reported on Saturday that Shein was selling “childlike” dolls of a likely pornographic nature.
French daily Le Parisien published a photo of one of the dolls sold on the platform; the doll, which measured around 80cm (30 inches) in height, held a teddy bear.
Shortly after the fraud watchdog’s statement, Shein announced that the dolls had been removed from its platform and that it had launched an internal inquiry. Soon after, it announced the ban on sex dolls.
Shein said it was setting up a dedicated team to ensure the “integrity” of content on the sales platform.
Shein is due on Wednesday to open its first physical store in the world inside the prestigious BHV Marais department store in central Paris, a move that has sparked outrage in France.
Selling childlike dolls
Frederic Merlin, the director of the company that owns BHV, said selling the childlike dolls was “unacceptable”, but on Monday defended his decision to allow Shein into the department store.
“Only clothes and items conceived directly by Shein for BHV will be sold in the store,” he said.
Shein, a Singapore-based company which was originally founded in China, has faced criticism over working conditions at its factories and the environmental impact of its ultra-fast fashion business model.
France has already fined Shein three times in 2025 for a total of 191m euros ($220m).
Those sanctions were imposed for failing to comply with online cookie legislation, false advertising, misleading information, and not declaring the presence of plastic microfibres in its products.
The European Commission is also investigating Shein over risks linked to allegedly illegal products, while EU lawmakers have approved legislation aimed at curbing the environmental impact of fast fashion.
