France Finds Illegal Products on Six Major Online Platforms

What They Found

AliExpress and Joom were selling childlike sex dolls. Platforms like Wish, Temu and eBay had weapons available – brass knuckles and machetes.

Amazon, Wish and Temu also failed to effectively filter underage shoppers from adult content.

What Happens Next

Commerce Minister Serge Papin has referred all cases to prosecutors. He’s also planning to invite European colleagues to Paris to discuss the matter.

This is part of France’s broader push to regulate foreign e-commerce platforms, which local retailers say create unfair competition with cheaper products.

European Context

This week, the EU decided to bring forward customs duties on low-value parcels by one year. The goal is to limit cheap imports from China.

After pressure from authorities, Shein removed all illegal products from its website. The French government then suspended the blocking process it had started earlier. However, Finance Minister Roland Lescure warned that if banned products appear again, they’ll proceed with a complete ban of Shein in France.