A Paris court on Friday rejected the French government’s request to suspend Chinese online platform Shein.
The government requested a three-month suspension following a public outcry over the presence of child-like sex dolls and other illegal items on the platform.
What decision did the court give on the request to suspend Sheen?
Apart from child-like sex dolls, illegal weapons and banned drugs were also found on the platform.
The court said in its Friday ruling that suspending Sheen would have been “disproportionate” because the offending products had been removed from the platform.
While acknowledging the “serious damage to public order” the platform has caused, it stressed that the sale of illegal products has been “sporadic”.
“In these proceedings only certain products on the market were clearly identified as illegal and harmful, while [Shein] The platform offers several lakhs of items for sale,” the court said.
Yet the court ordered Sheen to implement age-verification measures before he began selling “sexual products that may contain obscene material”.
The company welcomed the decision, saying it was committed to improving its control processes.
What are the proceedings against Sheen?
France’s consumer watchdog and the finance ministry initiated proceedings to suspend Shein on 5 November.
The company then responded by suspending existing third-party listings on its marketplace, but continued selling Shein clothing through its website.
Late last month, the EU used its “digital acquis” mechanism to ask for more information on what it is doing to protect children after Paris urged EU sanctions.
France’s consumer regulator also found that illegal products were sold through five other platforms – AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Joom and Teemu.
Shein was founded in China in 2012 and is now based in Singapore. It keeps a large part of its manufacturing and production in China.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery