France today increased pressure on the European Union to launch a formal investigation into Chinese fast-fashion online retailer Shein regarding the sale of dolls with little girl features as “sex toys” and illegal weapons on its platform.

France has initiated proceedings to shut down Shein due to the illegal products and Shein has suspended its purchasing platform in the country to consider outside suppliers, having already stopped selling sex dolls around the world.

“France is alerting European Commission and all Member States of these serious violations within its borders and expects that there are similar risks associated with the activities of this platform in other countries of the European Union.” wrote French Finance Minister Rolande Lesquier and Digital Policy Minister Anne le Enanf in a letter to EU technology commissioner Hena Virtunen.

France has called on the European Commission to conduct investigations “without delay” to determine what led to the sale of illegal products on the platform, according to the letter, sent late yesterday and made public to reporters today.

A Commission spokesman confirmed that the letter was received and said the Commission would assess the situation and decide on next steps.

At the same time, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot today called on the European Commission to impose sanctions on Shein, which he said violates EU rules.

“I believe that the platform clearly violates the European rules that we adopted in 2022 after following France’s encouragement. I believe that the European Commission must take action. It cannot delay any longer,” Barrot said in an interview with French radio station Franceinfo.

The products that provoked France’s strong reaction

It all started when France’s finance minister, Roland Lesquire, warned on Monday that he would ban Shein from entering the country if the Asian e-commerce giant continued to sell children’s dolls with sexual innuendo.

The threat came after the French anti-fraud agency announced that it had identified “dolls” on the company’s platform that may fall under the category of child pornography. The newspaper Le Parisien published a photo of this, causing a strong reaction in French public opinion.

Shein announced that it had immediately withdrawn the exclusive products and launched an internal investigation, but Leskir said that if they returned online, the government “will move to exclusively ban the company from entering the French market.”

The incident occurred just days before the planned opening of Shein’s first physical store in Paris, inside the BHV Marais department store, a move that has already sparked intense opposition from organizations, politicians and other fashion companies.

Shein has been repeatedly in the crosshair of the French authorities. In 2025 it has been fined €191 million for violations involving false advertising, online cookies and failure to declare microplastics in its products.