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submitted 2 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

France's consumer watchdog has reported the Asian fast fashion giant Shein to authorities for selling "sex dolls with a childlike appearance" on its website.

The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) said the online description and categorisation of the dolls "makes it difficult to doubt the child pornography nature of the content".

Shein later told the BBC: "The products in question were immediately delisted as soon as we became aware of these serious issues."

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[-] Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world 41 points 2 days ago

I can see how this whole topic can be kind of tricky. Not letting a free citizen have sex with a child like doll is kind of like arresting someone for thinking about committing a crime. I am generally of the belief that people should be free to do as they please as long as what they do doesn't impinge on other people's rights and such. But this is one of those border cases. Making it illegal without proof that it leads to crimes is questionable. But waiting for the proof means some children were abused, which is unacceptable as well.

Also, a guy could just buy one of those things that is lower torso and upper legs only. Nothing on it implies an age. So he can think of it as a child in his head. Yet making those illegal seems a stretch. Maybe it would have to be something like all sex dolls need to include enough parts to clearly distinguish them from children? But even that would be hard to truely define.

[-] petrol_sniff_king 10 points 2 days ago

I think there may be some social issues with a for-profit company being financially incentivized to promote and sell pedophilia to people.

How would you rather deal with this? A boycott? Do you have money in child sex doll manufacturing that you can withhold?

So he can think of it as a child in his head.

That's not really what this is about. You're trying to assess this on a personal freedom level when what we're talking about is a guy with a megaphone.

[-] pixeltree 5 points 1 day ago

God, giving capitalism a financial incentive to advertise pedophilia is a new nightmare to me now, thanks

[-] petrol_sniff_king 2 points 1 day ago

You're welcome 🫡

I really don't understand what you are saying. I was in fact looking to open a discussion on a personal freedom angle. But the specific topic here was just what got me thinking about it. "A guy with a megaphone". I really have no idea what that is referring to.

I did suggest that all sex toy type products could maybe be required to have some dimension that clearly marks the item as representing an adult. That would be my suggestion. But I am still curious where people draw the line on personal freedom vs something that isn't proven to be harmful. Drugs and such are another good example. Should people be allowed to do whatever dtugs they want, as long as they don't drive or something. Alcohol actually follows that example. Guns do to. Lots of ways to frame the debate.

[-] petrol_sniff_king 1 points 1 day ago

The "guy" would be Shein.

Another neat way to frame the debate, to reach for the obvious example, is over swastikas. Of course, having a picture of a swastika tattooed on your arm isn't harming anyone, so why should we as a society have any distaste for it?

To answer "we shouldn't" is to cede ground to nazis. We do not, actually, have to tolerate their symbols.

The 4chan-nazi pipeline—yes, I'm still talking about pedophiles—if you're not aware, is a strategy by which people are drenched in ironic, nazi iconography, which results in them being more permissive of that kind of thing, and thus makes them much, much easier to be groomed by king-master klansman, or whatever they call themselves.

Being too permissive of something is socially harmful.

I agree, pedophiles are often villainized way too much. I would like them not to be so afraid of being found out that they never get therapy. If they're good people, I assume they want to be better as much as I want them to, even if it's difficult. None of this means we need to sell dolls to them.

Think about it this way: I watch pornography all the time. I am not any less likely to fuck a woman. How is the doll supposed to satiate them?

I realize that I sound very condescending right now, but I'm sincerely asking: this idea that a legal outlet is actually more helpful to them, where does this come from? Does it even make sense?

Whether you mean to or not, I think that you are ceding ground to people who want pedophilia to be more popular. They do exist: middle America loves child marriage. This is why I'm not engaging with the personal freedom angle; it's not really relevant.

Also, requiring child dolls to have some dimension by which they are clearly identifiable as adults is an effective ban on child dolls—it's the same thing.

I don’t debate that people should have distaste for nazi tatoos. But illegal, I would say no, that is clearly too far in my book.

As for dolls satiateing anyone. I never intended to suggest they do. I asked, do we have evidence that they cause harm. And if not, how do we decide what should be banned despite a lack of evidence proving it harmful.

As for the requirement being the same as a ban. It's really not. Cause just .ike they are doing, they can sell various parts separately, and let the user assemble. That is really hard to enforce. My suggestion isn't perfect, but it is easier to enforce.

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this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2025
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