A French court has dismissed a request by the state to suspend the operations of the fast-fashion e-commerce giant Shein in France, labeling the proposed measure as disproportionate. The decision was made on Friday, 19th December 2025, by the Paris judicial court.
Court Cites Removal of Controversial Items
The legal action was initiated after French authorities discovered a range of prohibited items on Shein's platform. These items included weapons, banned medications, and childlike sex dolls. The state had sought a three-month block of the site, demanding that it only reopen under strict new measures to prevent similar offences.
However, the court noted that Shein had already taken down the controversial advertisements and products in question. While acknowledging a "serious harm to public order," the judges found that the sale of these illegal items was "sporadic" in nature. The ruling stated that only a small number of products on the vast marketplace, which hosts hundreds of thousands of items, were identified as manifestly illegal.
Injunction and Marketplace Reopening
Despite rejecting the full suspension, the court issued a firm injunction against Shein. The company is now legally barred from resuming the sale of sexual products that could be considered pornographic without implementing robust age-verification measures. The state's additional request to at least suspend Shein's third-party marketplace was not granted by the court.
Shein's lawyers indicated that the marketplace will not reopen immediately in full. Instead, it will resume operations gradually. The company has admitted to facing technical challenges in creating an effective age filter for adult products. Consequently, the adults-only sexual products category will remain closed for now, a global policy shift that began after the scandal erupted in France in November.
Broader Pressure on E-commerce in Europe
This case is part of a wider crackdown on major online platforms within the European Union. In November, Brussels formally requested information from Shein, a step that could lead to further investigations and potential fines. Earlier in December, EU finance ministers agreed to a significant new policy: a three-euro duty on low-value imports entering the bloc from July 2026.
This tax is specifically designed to address the flood of small parcels from sites like Shein. European retailers have long argued that they face unfair competition from overseas platforms, which they claim do not consistently adhere to the EU's stringent product safety and compliance regulations.
