Case opened in court for exposing minors to pornographic content. France continues its campaign to protect minors online.
French authorities are paying attention to large e-commerce platforms. Now, the accused is Vinted, which will have active advertisements in its application that redirect users, including children, to adult content sites.
The second-hand clothing platform was the target of a warning from the French Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Sarah El-Haïry, who asked the television and internet regulatory authority, Arcom, to investigate the allegations, according to .
According to information released by the local media, some sellers were publishing advertisements for lingerie or swimwear with the aim of attracting users to their profiles on adult content platformsincluding .
“Where there are children or teenagers, there are predators, and what they did this time was use the sale of common objects to direct them to pornographic websites,” El-Haïry told France 3 television channel.
In response to the allegations, Lithuania-based Vinted reaffirmed that it maintains a policy of zero tolerance regarding unsolicited communications of a sexual nature or the promotion of sexual services. The platform guarantees that all content considered illegal or inappropriate is removed and that users who violate these rules can be permanently blocked.
The investigation comes in a context of greater regulatory rigor in France regarding the protection of minors online. In 2024, a law gave Arcom powers to impose legal sanctions and block access to adult websites that do not implement effective age verification mechanisms. These blocks can be applied for periods of up to two years, including measures against Internet and domain providers. The law gained prominence when the parent company of Pornhub and Redtube, Aylo, announced access to its platforms for French users.
In recent months, France has intensified supervision over large e-commerce platforms. In addition to Vinted, the Chinese retailer after illegal products were found for sale, including weapons and child sex dolls. In response, Shein said it had suspended the sale of all its sex dolls and banned their sale.
