“We have crossed the line. » The Minister of the Economy Roland Lescure strongly criticized Shein, e-commerce giant, on BFMTV, this Monday, November 3. As we revealed this weekend, sex dolls in the shape of a little girl were sold on the brand’s website. “These horrible objects are illegal,” said the minister, who said he was ready to take action against Shein.
“If these behaviors are repeated, we will be entitled, and I will request it, to prohibit access to the Shein platform” from the French market, declares Roland Lescure. “We have made a report to the prosecutor so there will be a judicial investigation. We also seized Arcom because it is a platform regulated by Arcom,” he explains.
For “terrorist acts, drug trafficking and child pornography, the government has the right to request a ban on access to the French market,” recalls the minister. “The law is very clear: if we have repeated behavior or if the objects are not removed, the government can request it. »
“We passed a law which is extremely firm: we will apply it”
If the items have been removed from the French Shein platform (as well as the AliExpress platform, where they were sold), they are still accessible abroad. “You know that we can circumvent French law with VPNs. France does not have the means to fight against that at this stage. But we passed a law which is extremely firm: we will apply it. »
The Minister of the Economy also denounced the “provocation” of Shein, which will set up shop at the BHV du Marais in Paris from Wednesday, despite criticism. “If the objects sold by Shein are illegal – and it is not only the subject of child pornography which is very serious, but also objects which do not correspond to French health standards – we will act,” promises Roland Lescure.
On Sunday, High Commissioner for Children Sarah El-Haïry announced her intention to convene “all the major e-commerce platforms” after the discovery of child pornography dolls sold on the Shein site, promising to go back to the “suppliers”. She wants the platforms to transmit “information” about buyers, “which will allow us to launch a certain number of checks and see if there are children who are in danger,” she added on Monday, on BFMTV.
Removing these items from sale is not enough action, she declared on RTL. “I want to understand who authorized the sale of these objects, what processes were put in place so that this does not happen again, (and) who the suppliers are because there are many people who produce these absolutely despicable dolls,” she said.