Shein caught selling childlike sex dolls

The French consumer watchdog has reported the major e-commerce platform, Shein, for selling sex dolls that resemble children.

The French Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) discovered that the Chinese-founded company, Shein, has been selling childlike sex dolls.

The description and categorization of these childlike sex dolls supposedly “leave little doubt” as to the pedophilic nature of the content, the DGCCRF said in a statement, which Cybernews has machine translated.

The representation of pedopornographic content when distributed online bears a punishable sentence of seven years in prison and a fine of roughly $115,000.

The watchdog also reported the incident to ARCOM, France’s communications watchdog, urging them to “implement appropriate measures” quickly.

It’s stated that other pornographic content is available, like adult-presenting sex dolls. However, there are no filters in place to prevent vulnerable people, such as children, from accessing this type of content.

Shein told the BBC that these articles were immediately taken down and the company was “investigating how these listings circumvented” its screening measures.

This isn’t the first time child-like sex dolls have been found on a well-known online platform that hosts millions of potentially vulnerable users.

Meta’s Facebook was supposedly selling childlike sex dolls on its platform, bringing the big tech company’s attitude to child safety into question.

Wesley Clarke from Romford, east London, had ordered a child-like sex doll from Facebook, which arrived at a popular London airport.

Upon opening the package, the officers found a motionless naked child lying in the box, not breathing, and the officers soon realized this “child” wasn’t a real person but an extremely lifelike doll.

Following the incident, police descended upon Clarke’s residence and uncovered two more childlike dolls. One appeared to be 13 years old, while the other looked around 15.

During interrogation, Clarke admitted that these were sex dolls. However, he didn’t think they would look like children and only brought them because the smaller size was cheaper.

Later, Clarke confessed to having a sexual preoccupation with school uniforms and schoolchildren.

There’s a bigger issue with child-like sex dolls

In the case of Facebook, groups of websites selling small dolls that look freakishly lifelike have been published across Meta’s platform, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ).

While this type of content definitely violates Meta’s rules and regulations, some 20 ads have evaded detection and have remained on the platform.

It’s not yet a crime to own a childlike sex doll. However, possible offences include having the doll to distribute, sending an obscene object by post, or posting the obscene article, the Crown Prosecution Service states.

This raises questions about the lax attitude of big e-commerce companies and big tech towards child safety, as who knows what kind of fantasies these dolls would instill in pedophiles.