French court rejects ban on childish sex dolls from Shein website

A Paris court has rejected the French government’s request to suspend fast fashion giant Shein’s website for selling children’s dolls on its platform.

The court said the request for a three-month suspension was “disproportionate” but did order age verification for the sale of adult products.

France’s consumer watchdog took action against Shein last month after reporting him to authorities for selling “sex dolls with a childlike appearance” and weapons.

Shein said its priority remains protecting French consumers and ensuring compliance.

In its ruling, the court acknowledged the seriousness of the sale of dolls and weapons but said these were isolated incidents.

It noted that the Chinese company had taken action to remove offending items after discovering them and that the issues involved only a small portion of the hundreds of thousands of products sold on its site.

In response to the initial controversy, Shein announced that Ban all sex doll sales on international websites.

The French government’s request for Shein to suspend the sale of third-party merchandise on its website (the source of the original offending merchandise) was also denied.

The court ordered the introduction of age verification measures for the sale of adult products and said each violation would be punishable by a fine of 10,000 euros (£8,700; $11,700).

The decision to suspend Shein’s website in early November coincided with the company’s opening Its first physical store in the French capital.

Its launch attracted both shoppers and protesters, who were linked to the sale of child sex dolls and its image as a fast-fashion retailer.

Shein said in a statement: “We remain committed to working closely with the French authorities to continuously improve our control processes, aiming to establish some of the most stringent standards in the industry.

“Our priority remains protecting French consumers and ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations.”