France will take online marketplaces AliExpress and Joom to court for selling child-like sex dolls, Commerce Minister Serge Papin announced on Wednesday. The move comes as Shein faces separate legal action for offering similar products.
Issued on: 26/11/2025 - RFI
France has taken action against several online platforms after authorities found illegal products for sale, including child-like sex dolls AFP - KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV
“There will be a judicial complaint against these two platforms from the state, since they also sell child abuse dolls,” Papin told TF1 television, linking the step to a wider effort already launched after concerns first emerged around Shein.
Papin’s office later said the State will file a civil case against both platforms. This uses the same legal procedure already applied to Shein and formally notifies a company that a case has begun.
Economy Minister Roland Lescure also raised the issue on Wednesday. “When you sell things that are banned, we request your suspension,” he told France Inter radio.
Lescure said the government intends to apply the law strictly and pointed to its plan to introduce a tax on small parcels as part of that approach.
“There will be a judicial complaint against these two platforms from the state, since they also sell child abuse dolls,” Papin told TF1 television, linking the step to a wider effort already launched after concerns first emerged around Shein.
Papin’s office later said the State will file a civil case against both platforms. This uses the same legal procedure already applied to Shein and formally notifies a company that a case has begun.
Economy Minister Roland Lescure also raised the issue on Wednesday. “When you sell things that are banned, we request your suspension,” he told France Inter radio.
Lescure said the government intends to apply the law strictly and pointed to its plan to introduce a tax on small parcels as part of that approach.
Wider crackdown
The legal action follows findings by consumer watchdog the Directorate General for Competition Policy Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, which discovered that AliExpress and Joom “also sold child-like sex dolls”.
Papin said earlier said that Wish, Temu, AliExpress and eBay “sold category A weapons such as knuckledusters and machetes”.
He said that six platforms had been reported to the authorities after the Shein scandal broke, including five singled out for selling illegal products.
AliExpress has said "the listings concerned have been removed”, after a judicial inquiry opened at the start of November. The platform did not provide further details.
Shein hearing
Shein faces a separate court hearing in Paris on Wednesday, where the government will ask for a three-month suspension of the company’s website in France.
Shein has said it imposed a “total ban on sex doll-type products” and removed all related listings. The company disabled its marketplace in France on 5 November, though its clothing site remains accessible.
Papin said the actions also aim to protect “our industry” and “our retailers”, and that they seek to end what he called a “digital Wild West”.
“This is a battle, if I may say, where we need to bring in a dose of protectionism,” he said.
France has summoned major internet service providers Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange and SFR to the Shein hearing and is urging the European Commission to open a formal investigation into Shein.
Shein faces a separate court hearing in Paris on Wednesday, where the government will ask for a three-month suspension of the company’s website in France.
Shein has said it imposed a “total ban on sex doll-type products” and removed all related listings. The company disabled its marketplace in France on 5 November, though its clothing site remains accessible.
Papin said the actions also aim to protect “our industry” and “our retailers”, and that they seek to end what he called a “digital Wild West”.
“This is a battle, if I may say, where we need to bring in a dose of protectionism,” he said.
France has summoned major internet service providers Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange and SFR to the Shein hearing and is urging the European Commission to open a formal investigation into Shein.
Paris court delays Shein suspension case as EU seeks tougher controls
A court hearing on a bid by the French government to suspend Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein’s website in the country has been postponed after the State asked for more time. The session was due to take place in Paris on Wednesday but has been rescheduled for 5 December.
Issued on: 26/11/2025
RFI
The Paris prosecutor's office opened investigations against Shein on 4 November, after France's anti-fraud unit reported it was selling childlike sex dolls. © AFP - Julie Sebadelha
The case was pushed back because of a procedural problem linked to a document the state received late Tuesday, according to French media reports.
Lawyers for Shein criticised the delay, saying the government was not confident about its case and calling the change “a total about-face”. The public prosecutor also told the court that it would not support the government’s request to block the site.
EU seeks clampdown
The postponement comes as EU lawmakers call for tougher action against e-commerce platforms.
On Wednesday a majority in the European Parliament backed a resolution urging the faster use of interim measures, including temporary suspensions, in cases of repeated or serious breaches of EU law.
The text cited the Shein case in France as an example.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, Brussels can already order a temporary suspension as a last-resort measure.
Lawmakers called for stronger enforcement of the rules, including on product safety, and highlighted concerns over large numbers of unsafe or non-compliant parcels arriving from Shein and other non-EU platforms.
The case was pushed back because of a procedural problem linked to a document the state received late Tuesday, according to French media reports.
Lawyers for Shein criticised the delay, saying the government was not confident about its case and calling the change “a total about-face”. The public prosecutor also told the court that it would not support the government’s request to block the site.
EU seeks clampdown
The postponement comes as EU lawmakers call for tougher action against e-commerce platforms.
On Wednesday a majority in the European Parliament backed a resolution urging the faster use of interim measures, including temporary suspensions, in cases of repeated or serious breaches of EU law.
The text cited the Shein case in France as an example.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, Brussels can already order a temporary suspension as a last-resort measure.
Lawmakers called for stronger enforcement of the rules, including on product safety, and highlighted concerns over large numbers of unsafe or non-compliant parcels arriving from Shein and other non-EU platforms.
Push for tighter controls
The French government aims to secure a three-month suspension of Shein's website as a whole, as it pushes the company to tighten controls over the products it sells.
The Paris court will hold a hearing on the accelerated judicial procedure the French government has started, summoning Infinite Styles Services Co Ltd – the Dublin-based company behind Shein's business in Europe – with lawyers for the Chinese company also expected to attend.
The Paris prosecutor's office opened investigations against Shein on 4 November, after France's anti-fraud unit reported that Shein was selling childlike "sex dolls".
Shein announced it was imposing a "total ban on sex doll-type products" and had deleted all listings and images linked to them.
The government started the process to block Shein in France on the same day the fast fashion retailer opened its first physical store in the world in the prestigious BHV department store in central Paris.
Shein has disabled its "marketplace" in France since 5 November, but the part of its website offering its own clothing range is still accessible.
'Preventing or halting harm'
France's case rests on Article 6.3 of the digital economy law, which gives a judge powers to prescribe measures with the aim of preventing or halting harm caused by online content.
The court will have to decide whether a suspension is warranted, and whether it is in line with European Union law.
Under EU law, online marketplaces, as intermediaries, are not directly liable for products sold by third parties, but have an obligation to remove illegal products as soon as they become aware of them.
"We know how powerful Shein is from a technical standpoint, and even, I would say, in terms of its use of artificial intelligence for production, so we can assume that it has the technical, technological and financial means to carry out these checks. The fact is that it does not do so," a French finance ministry official said in a press briefing.
A ruling is not expected on Wednesday, but rather in the coming weeks, the official said.
France has also summoned major internet service providers Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange and SFR to the hearing, requesting that they block Shein's website.
It has been cracking down on other online platforms, with the country's consumer watchdog finding that AliExpress and Joom were also selling childlike sex dolls, while Wish, Temu and Amazon had failed to filter underage shoppers from adult content.
France is also taking its fight to the EU, pushing for the European Commission to open a formal investigation into Shein over illicit products.
(with newswires)
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