Shopee Takes Action After Netizen Highlights Child-Like Sex Dolls Being Sold On Its Site
In a statement to SAYS, a Shopee spokesperson assured that the company has "zero tolerance" for the sale of offensive items on its platform.
By Sadho Ram — 03 Jul 2023, 11:15 AM
On Friday, 30 June, a Twitter user highlighted a handful of listings from sellers on Shopee, where sex toys were being sold to buyers specifically interested in those that resemble a girl child's body
According to the Twitter user, @masitah96, she came to know about the listings via her friend.
"My friend was browsing through Shopee and she came across sex toys (which is fine) but what's not fine is that it's sex toys replicating a child's body [...] This is so sickening and disgusting?" she tweeted.
In her tweet, she attached multiple screenshots of the child-like sex toys. The screenshots also included reviews from buyers who had bought the dolls costing between RM1,400 to RM1,500 each.
One of the screenshots also showed that the child-like sex toy was dressed in a baju kurung that's similar to Malaysian primary school uniforms.
She also included links to the listings while encouraging others to report them on the platform.
The Twitter user has consented to SAYS embedding her tweets in this story.
Later during the same day, this SAYS writer learned that the listings appeared to have been removed from the E-commerce platform
Then, SAYS reached out to Shopee to seek further clarification and to learn what steps the platform will take to ensure sellers cannot list such items for sale in the future.
In a statement to this SAYS writer, a Shopee spokesperson assured that the company has "zero tolerance" for selling offensive items and they immediately removed the listings as soon as they became aware of the matter.
The spokesperson also stated that they have permanently banned the associated seller accounts.
"This type of abhorrent content has no place on our platform, and we are conducting a site-wide review to ensure our users are protected from such listings. We are also investigating the sellers involved," read the statement, adding that the platform requires its sellers to adhere to its policies and government regulations.
Under Section 292(a) of the Penal Code, selling, distributing, or buying any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, painting, representation or figure or any other obscene object whatsoever is a punishable offence.
While Shopee has acted against the sellers, the tweets highlighting the listings are still up on Twitter, where they have gone viral
Many of the sellers who were found with the listings are believed to be based locally.
According to @masitah96, she has lodged a complaint with Shopee against the sellers.
She told this SAYS writer that she tweeted the screenshots to create awareness among people so that everyone knows how concerning and disgusting it is, as it involved paedophilia.
On Twitter, she also filed a separate report against accounts that defended the sale of child-like sex toys.
