The Swedish government announced on Wednesday that it has summoned Amazon and several e-commerce platforms to a meeting over the sale of child-like sex dolls on their websites.
Swedish children’s rights organization ChildX on Monday filed a police complaint against Amazon — including all of its national subsidiaries — and two other portals that sell dolls in Sweden, alleging that such sales could violate child sexual exploitation laws.
The international controversy surrounding these products is increasing. The Chinese platform Shein recently banned the sale of these dolls after threats from France to ban the company from the country for allowing their sale. After halting sales on its marketplace, the Chinese e-commerce giant continues to operate in France under strict government surveillance.
- capital: Black Friday overcomes the reputation of “black fraud” and achieves dominance among Brazilian youth
ChildX warned that the sale of this type of product in global markets threatens to normalize child sexual abuse and increase demand for exploitative material.
The Swedish Minister of Social Services, Camilla Waltersson Gronvall, called for a meeting on the 28th of this month with representatives of e-commerce platforms, child protection organizations and other parties to discuss ways to contain this problem.
The minister announced in a statement: “We must collectively explore the possibilities of eliminating the existence of these dolls.”
- E-commerce launches its weapons: Find out what’s new on platforms to increase competition on Black Friday and Christmas
Amazon confirmed that it would participate in the meeting and stated that it had removed the mentioned products.
A company spokesperson said: “We have strict policies in the adult sector and have always strictly prohibited child pornography.”
ChildX has demanded that Amazon take greater responsibility for items sold on its platform.
- The first batch of the thirteenth part will be presented this year: Understand and see what will be your lot
“By removing the ads, Amazon recognizes that there is a problem and that there are serious flaws,” said Ida Ostenson, the organization’s secretary general. – It was already criticized in 2018, but the dolls were back on sale three days later. She added: “We ask them to take responsibility.”
Under Swedish law, it is illegal to distribute or possess images of child sexual abuse, as is owning sex dolls that resemble children. For ChildX, the sale of these dolls should also be illegal, although no such case has been tried in court yet.
About The Author
