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French Court rejects bid to suspend Shein

Dec 26, 2025 France

A French court has ruled that suspending the website of the online e-commerce giant over the sale of illicit products was disproportionate. The French government will appeal

The French authorities requested that the Shein website be blocked for three months after the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control found that sex dolls resembling children and banned weapons were being sold on its marketplace. This prompted the government to attempt to suspend the platform.

While the Paris judicial court acknowledged “serious harm to public order”, it found that Shein’s sale of the items in question had been “sporadic” and noted that the products had been removed. Nevertheless, it issued an injunction to Shein not to resume selling “sexual products that could constitute pornographic content, without implementing age-verification measures”.

Consequently, Shein is expected to reinstate its marketplace in France gradually, having acknowledged the difficulty of implementing an effective age filter for pornographic products. The adult-only sexual category will remain closed for the time being. It should be noted, however, that its website selling Shein-branded clothing has remained accessible throughout this period.

In a statement to the AFP news agency, the French government said that it would appeal against the court’s decision, as it is convinced of the “systemic risk” posed by the its business model. “At the request of the prime minister, the government will appeal this decision in the coming day”.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Shein said: “We remain committed to continuously improving our control processes, in close collaboration with the French authorities, with the aim of establishing some of the most stringent standards in the industry, and we have been intensifying these efforts”. The company has declined to comment on the government’s decision to appeal against the ruling.

This decision comes shortly after EU finance ministers agreed to impose a 3-euro duty on low-value imports into the EU bloc from July 2026, in an attempt to tackle the influx of small parcels ordered via websites such as Shein and Temu.

Sources: Reuters and Le Monde

Image Credits: retailgazette.co.uk

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