RECENTLY, a viral tweet showed a product sold on Shopee, one of Asia’s leading e-commerce platforms that outraged netizens.It was a line of sex dolls that were child-like and they start at RM1,500. However, since the viral tweet blew up, the eCommerce platform has removed it from their listing.Shopee said it has already introduced an age detection and censorship mechanism for its adult listings, preventing users under 18 from accessing them. While sellers are permitted to display product images, Shopee’s guidelines strictly prohibit any nudity.Nevertheless, the items displayed in that particular store on Shopee mentioned they were ‘sex dolls’. And Shoppee missed that.Furthermore, Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan raised concerns about the sale of these dolls. They have been available on the platform since mid-last year, as evidenced by reviews dating back to May 18, 2022.The MP emphasised the importance of regulating eCommerce platforms and urged them to be more vigilant about the nature of the products being sold.Twitter users in particular showed their unhappiness with the eCommerce platform for not regulating their products properly.Netizens are expressing their shock at the normalisation of these items and how easily accessible they are to certain disturbed individuals. – July 1, 2023
Main photo credit: Reuters
