LONDON — France’s crackdown on Shein over childlike sex dolls and banned weapons is exposing a perennial problem of online marketplaces: failing to properly police third-party sellers and block sales of counterfeit, illegal, dangerous or simply offensive products.

Online marketplaces – platforms that let multiple vendors display and ship their goods globally – have surged over the past decade, with Amazon, Alibaba, Temu and Shein generating massive revenues by offering consumers a seemingly endless array of low-cost products.

Not all products comply with safety or legal standards.

Amazon was criticized in Britain in 2022 for selling illegal weapons, and in 2018 for selling sex dolls resembling children, the same issues that have caused an uproar in France with the government moving to b

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