I've never seen this movie Cuties. However, I would have to say that from what I've heard about it, it doesn't even come close to the level of controversy that Maladolescenza has stirred up through the years. Maladolescenza crossed many more boundaries than Cuties could ever do so. I've never seen Maladolescenza, but I've read reviews about it and I know that it was banned in numerous countries, including the United States of America.
I cannot figure out what the American people's fixation is with Cuties, because even the German film titled The Summer House produced more of a shock effect on its audience than any other film I've known of. I can understand some parents insisting that they replace the underage actresses in Cuties with women over 18 years old who can pass off as middle-schoolers. Of course, then again, that suggestion was made for the 1978 film titled Pretty Baby, but nobody could have likely played the role of the young female protagonist in that movie as effectively as Brooke Shields did. It's kind of a tug of war between pleasing all the helicopter moms north of the Mexican-American border and actually producing a movie that is convincing to its audience.
I would think that Americans and Canadians who condemn this film would at least take the time to realize that the French culture is diametrically different from the English-speaking North-American culture. All anyone has to do is trace the history of French cinema to know that things are simply not as sheltered over there as they are here in the land of milk and honey where I am. Darn! How did we all ever survive here in my nation through the melodrama of Will Mcbride and his controversial book titled Show Me! before it got banned here? By the way, I gave your article an upvote.