A Paris judicial court on Friday rejected the French government's request to suspend Shein's French website for three months, ruling that a full shutdown would be "disproportionate" after the online fast-fashion retailer removed listings of illegal items from its platform.
Court Findings and Injunction
The court acknowledged a "serious harm to public order" after investigations uncovered weapons, banned medicines and childlike sex dolls being offered via third-party sellers on Shein's marketplace. However, judges found those sales were "sporadic" and noted that Shein had removed the problematic listings.
While rejecting the government's call for a blanket suspension, the court issued an injunction ordering Shein not to resume offering "sexual products that could constitute pornographic content" without implementing effective age-verification measures.
Marketplace Status and Company Response
Shein's marketplace — which hosts hundreds of thousands of third-party listings on fr.shein.com — is expected to reopen gradually rather than immediately, the company said. The firm acknowledged challenges in deploying an effective age-verification filter for adult products. As a result, the adults-only sexual products category will remain closed for the time being; it has been unavailable globally since the controversy over childlike sex dolls surfaced in France in November.
Government Reaction and Wider EU Context
The French government said it will appeal the decision. "Convinced of the systemic risk of the model linked to Shein, and at the request of the prime minister, the government will appeal this decision in the coming days," an official statement said.
Beyond France, Shein has come under growing scrutiny in Europe: in November Brussels requested formal information from the company — a step that can precede investigations or fines but does not itself imply wrongdoing — and EU finance ministers agreed in December to levy a €3 charge on low-value imports from July 2026 to curb a surge of small parcels from overseas marketplaces. European retailers have argued that some overseas platforms create unfair competition by not always meeting the EU's product and safety rules.
Court Note: "Only certain products on the marketplace were identified, in these proceedings, as manifestly illegal and harmful, while the 'fr.Shein.com' platform offers several hundred thousand items for sale."
The case highlights the legal and regulatory tensions that arise when platforms host third-party sellers: courts and regulators must weigh public-safety risks, the scope of platform responsibility, and proportionality of legal remedies.
