European Union lawmakers are pushing to make it easier to suspend major e-commerce platforms, following a major scandal in France involving the sale of childlike sex dolls on the popular shopping site Shein.
France Takes Action Against Shein
The French government is seeking a three-month suspension of the Shein platform, with a court set to hear the case on December 5 after it was postponed on Wednesday. This legal action comes after the Paris prosecutor's office launched probes this month into both Shein and its rival, AliExpress, concerning the controversial sale of these items.
Shein, which was founded in China in 2012 but is now based in Singapore, has vowed to cooperate with French authorities. The company has stated it is banning all sex dolls from its platform in response to the investigation.
EU Lawmakers Demand Stronger Enforcement
In a significant move, a majority of European Parliament lawmakers backed a non-binding resolution on Wednesday, arguing that the suspension of a platform should no longer be an exceptional, last-resort measure. The resolution specifically calls for the swifter activation of interim measures, including the temporary suspension of online marketplaces in cases of repeated, serious, or systemic breaches of EU law.
This push for stronger action is empowered by the EU's landmark Digital Services Act (DSA), which already gives Brussels the authority to temporarily suspend a platform as a last resort. The lawmakers are now urging EU states and the European Commission to enforce the DSA more rigorously and ensure better policing of product safety rules.
Broader Concerns Over Non-EU Imports
The controversy has also shed light on wider issues with products from non-EU platforms. EU lawmakers expressed serious concern over the flood of non-compliant small parcels from Shein and similar companies.
They highlighted several critical problems, including:
- Underpaid labour practices
- Unlawful imitation of designers' work
- Marketing of unsafe and non-compliant products
- The massive accumulation of textile waste
In a related effort to tackle the influx of cheap Chinese imports, the EU is now aiming to scrap a bloc-wide duty exemption on low-value orders by the start of 2026, moving the deadline up from the initially planned 2028. Currently, packages worth less than 150 euros imported directly to consumers in the 27-nation bloc are not subject to any levy.
