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E-commerce platforms including Shein, Temu, AliExpress and Wish are presently under investigation in the French Republic for the charge of enabling underage individuals to view pornographic information on their services, the French judicial authorities announced on this Tuesday.

The nation's consumer protection agency had flagged the four firms to the prosecution service on Sunday after raising worries about the sale of youth-resembling intimate products on Shein's platform over the weekend.

The French judicial officials clarified that the online services are being examined over harmful, explicit or “undignified” content that can be viewed by minors.

One of the platforms asserted that it takes the situation extremely earnestly. The other retailers have also been reached out to for a statement.

Wider Investigations and Platform Responses

Shein and AliExpress are additionally facing probes over the spread of information concerning children that are of a pornographic type, the authorities said.

The matters have been handed over to Paris' Office des Mineurs, the prosecution service added. This office is an arm of the French police force that oversees the safeguarding of minors.

AliExpress commented that the products in dispute violated its guidelines and were deleted once it was informed of them.

"Merchants discovered to violate or attempting to bypass these policies will be penalised in compliance with our guidelines," AliExpress stated in a official comment.

On this Monday, Shein confirmed it had outlawed the marketing of any adult toys on its marketplace globally. The based in Singapore firm also said that it would permanently block all seller accounts involved in the illegal transaction of the minor-looking products and implement more rigorous measures on its service.

Regulatory Body Observations and Wider Context

The national consumer agency, the consumer protection directorate, had stated that the sex dolls' product information and categorisation left "minimal uncertainty as to the exploitative character" of the products.

The examination of Shein comes as the business, which was founded in China, gets ready for the inauguration on this Wednesday of its maiden permanent physical store in the French Republic.

Activists have been observed gathered in front of the French capital retail outlet where the company is planned to establish the location.

The firm intends to inaugurate outlets in other French department stores in locations like Dijon, Reims and Angers.