PARIS (Reuters) -Online retail platforms Shein, Temu, AliExpress and Wish are being investigated in France over alleged dissemination of contents including child pornography on their marketplaces, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.
China’s Shein will open its first-ever permanent shop in the BHV department store in central Paris on Wednesday, but French Finance Minister Roland Lescure threatened a countrywide ban of the brand after a consumer watchdog spotted childlike sex dolls sold on its marketplace.
Shein spokesperson for France Quentin Ruffat told RMC radio on Tuesday that the company would do everything in its power to collaborate with the investigation, including sharing the names of vendors and buyers of the dolls.
A Temu spokesperson told Reuters that accusations against the company were connected to minors accessing certain products on its platform, and that Temu was not being probed for child pornography.
The other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
PROBE FOLLOWS CONSUMER WATCHDOG COMPLAINT
The Paris prosecutor’s office said it received a complaint from the consumer watchdog known as DGCCRF and referred the case to the National Office for Minors to investigate.
The companies are being investigated on suspicion of the dissemination of violent, pornographic or degrading messages accessible to minors, which can lead to up to three years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros for individuals involved, the office said.
Shein and AliExpress are also being investigated for the dissemination of images or representations of minors of a pornographic nature, which can lead to five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros, the prosecutor’s office said.
Shein pulled the dolls from its website on Sunday, and on Monday it imposed a total ban on sex dolls and suspended the “adult products” category from the platform.
French Senator Marie-Claire Carrere-Gee asked on Monday that the Paris prosecutor’s office open a probe into the sellers and clients of child pornographic material, and on Shein for complicity, demanding “exemplary sanctions” on those found in breach of the law.
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Gabriel StargardterEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
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