Shein hits back at French government in court hearing over sex dolls, weapons

(Refiles to change wording in paragraph 2 to "cabal" rather than "conspiracy"; original quote in French referred to a "cabale". No other changes to text.)

By Florence Loeve

PARIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Lawyers for Shein accused France of singling it out in a "crusade" against the Chinese online platform, in a Paris court hearing over the government's crackdown on illegal products sold on the site.

"Our client is the subject of a cabal, a media cabal, a political cabal and I would even say discriminatory treatment," Julia Bombardier, one of two lawyers representing Shein, told the court.  

Shein has been at the centre of a scandal in France since the country's consumer watchdog found banned weapons and sex dolls resembling children for sale on its marketplace, prompting a government push to suspend the platform on the day it opened its first store in Paris.

A lawyer for the French state, Renaud Le Gunehec, opened the hearing by demanding a series of measures from Shein to prove products sold on its website comply with the law, but backed off from the government's earlier push for a three-month full suspension of the online platform.

FRENCH STATE DEMANDS SAFETY CONTROLS

Shein must put controls in place on its website, including age verification and filtering, to ensure minors cannot access pornographic content, Le Gunehec argued, asking the court to enforce the suspension of its marketplace until Shein has shown evidence of such controls to French communications regulator Arcom.

Shein disabled its marketplace - where third-party sellers list their products - in France on November 5, after authorities found the illegal items for sale, but its site selling Shein-branded clothing remains accessible.

Kami Haeri, also representing Shein, argued the state's demand is irrelevant because Shein has already suspended its marketplace, and said Arcom has no jurisdiction over platforms, calling the state's demands disproportionate and "not even legal". 

The state has invoked Article 6.3 of France's digital economy law, which gives a judge powers to prescribe measures with the aim of preventing or halting harm caused by online content.

"We don't claim to be here to replace the European Commission," Le Gunehec said. "We are not here today to regulate, we are here to prevent harm, faced with things that are unacceptable."

FRANCE FINDS WIDESPREAD PRODUCT VIOLATIONS

Among the actions taken by the French government, it said it examined 200,000 Shein packages at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport in 24 hours and found 80% of the products were non-compliant. 

Bombardier on Friday sought to cast doubt on that finding, saying it was "simply impossible" to check that many packages in one day. 

The hearing is still ongoing and the judge will announce a decision on December 19.

In a statement last week, the Paris prosecutor's office said a three-month suspension could be deemed "disproportionate" under the case law of the European Court of Human Rights if Shein could prove it has stopped all sales of illegal goods.

But the prosecutor supported the government's demand that Shein provide evidence of measures taken to end those sales.

France's move comes amid broader scrutiny of Chinese giants such as Shein and Temu under the EU's Digital Services Act, reflecting concerns about consumer safety, illegal product sales and unfair competition.

In the U.S., Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Monday he is investigating Shein to determine whether the fast-fashion retailer violated state law related to unethical labour practices and the sale of unsafe consumer products.

(Reporting by Florence Loeve and Dominique Patton; Additional reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Toby Chopra and Louise Heavens)