Shein: the marketplace will not be suspended, state requests rejected

French justice ruled this Thursday. The Shein marketplace will not be suspended, the State’s requests are rejected, indicates the Paris Court of Appeal.

She confirmed the judgment at first instance, estimating in a press release that “the damage which had justified the State’s action no longer existed”.

After a legal setback in December, the State demanded the suspension of the platform’s “marketplace”, where illicit items had been offered for sale.

A legal battle lasting several months

The affair began this fall, with the reporting on the platform reserved for third-party sellers of Shein of sex dolls that look like little girls but also of category A weapons and prohibited medicines.

Shein, founded in China and now based in Singapore, sells on its site the ultra-ephemeral fashion clothing that has made it successful, but also hosts products marketed by numerous third-party sellers on its “marketplace”.

After the discovery of these illegal products, Shein spontaneously blocked its entire “marketplace” in France, taking the time to carry out “a complete audit” and correct the “flaws”, before gradually reopening it at the beginning of 2026.

These immediate corrections did not satisfy the French government, which had asked the courts for the total suspension of the Shein site, the time to guarantee that the risk of recurrence was zero.

But the Paris judicial court rejected this request in December, deeming it “disproportionate” in view of the voluntary withdrawal by the Asian giant of online commerce of the incriminated products.

In its first instance decision, however, the court forced Shein not to relaunch the sale of pornographic products for adults without implementing an effective age filter. The French government, believing that the systemic risks of this platform deserved to be re-examined, appealed the decision.

However, he had reduced his requests, aware of the low chances of seeing the site blocked as a whole. During the appeal hearing on February 5, he requested the suspension by Shein of its only marketplace.