French court orders Shein to verify age for sex toy sales or risk fines
· The Straits TimesPARIS - A Paris court ordered Shein to implement age verification measures for any adult products sold via its French website on Dec 19 and set a €10,000 (S$15,000) fine for any breach, after an uproar over childlike sex dolls sold on its marketplace.
The decision comes as the authorities try to force Shein to tighten oversight of products sold by third parties on its site, and as France attempts to crack down on it and other platforms.
However, the court rejected the French government’s request to suspend Shein’s website as a whole for three months, saying it would be “disproportionate”, a decision that alleviates some of the pressure the Chinese online platform has faced in France.
“We welcome this decision. We remain committed to continuously improving our control processes, in close collaboration with the French authorities, with the aim of establishing some of the most stringent standards in the industry, and we have been intensifying these efforts,” a Shein spokesperson said in a statement following the ruling.
“Our priority remains protecting French consumers and ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations.”
‘Pedopornographic’ sex dolls
Shein has been at the centre of a scandal since France’s consumer watchdog found sex dolls resembling children and banned weapons for sale on its marketplace, prompting a government attempt to suspend the platform.
The court on Dec 19 said Shein must implement measures to verify age – more than a simple declaration – that can prevent products of a pornographic nature being accessed by minors.
The French government began proceedings to suspend Shein on Nov 5, less than two hours after its first-ever physical store opened in the BHV department store in Paris.
Shein suspended its marketplace – where third-party sellers list their products – in France, but its site selling Shein-branded clothing remains accessible. The company also stopped selling sex toys on its marketplaces worldwide.
The court said in a statement that Shein had removed the products rapidly, and that a systematic lack of controls, oversight or regulation had not been proven.
Ms Christine Cerrada, a lawyer and legal adviser for French child protection group L’Enfance au Coeur, said the French court’s actions were “clearly insufficient”.
“From a legal standpoint, it is well known that age-verification measures are extremely difficult to implement,” she said following the ruling.
Shein, which is privately owned but is aiming to go public in Hong Kong after failed attempts at listing in New York and London, had global revenues of US$37 billion (S$47.8 billion) in 2024, the most recent filing of its parent company Roadget Business in Singapore shows.
French crackdown on online platforms
France’s consumer regulator also said in November it had found that five other platforms – AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Joom and Temu – sold illicit products in France. But none of those suspended their marketplaces, and the government has not targeted them to the same extent as Shein.
In a hearing earlier in December, lawyers for Shein argued that it is facing discriminatory treatment and that there was a “crusade” against it by politicians and the media.
France has in recent weeks pushed the European authorities to crack down on Shein as well, calling for a formal investigation under the EU law governing online platforms.
The European Commission requested further information from Shein on illegal products but stopped short of opening an investigation. REUTERS