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French government summons Shein's Dublin entity

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Paris court hearing set for Wednesday

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French case rests on online harm reduction law

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Internet service providers also summoned

(Adds details on legal basis for case, EU law)

By Helen Reid and Alessandro Parodi

PARIS, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The French government will ask

a Paris judge on Wednesday to order the suspension of Chinese

online platform Shein in the country for three months over sales

of childlike sex dolls and banned weapons, a finance ministry

official said on Tuesday.

Shein has already disabled its marketplace - where

third-party sellers offer their products to shoppers around the

world - in France since November 5, after the government found

the dolls and weapons for sale on the site, but the part of its

website offering Shein's own clothing range is still accessible.

The government aims to secure a three-month suspension of

Shein's website as a whole, under an extraordinary judicial

procedure, as it pushes the company to tighten controls over the

products it sells.

RULING EXPECTED IN THE COMING WEEKS

The court of Paris is set to hold a hearing on Wednesday on

the accelerated judicial procedure the government has started,

summoning Infinite Styles Services Co Ltd, the Dublin-based

company behind Shein's business in Europe, with lawyers for the

company also expected to attend.

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," the finance

ministry official said in a press briefing.

A ruling is not expected on Wednesday, but in the coming

weeks, the official said.

Shein did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

France has also summoned major internet service providers

Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange and SFR to the hearing,

requesting they block Shein's website.

The government started the process to block Shein in France

on the day the fast-fashion retailer opened its first physical

shop in a Paris department store.

It has also been cracking down on other online platforms,

with consumer watchdog DGCCRF finding that AliExpress and Joom

were also selling childlike sex dolls, while Wish, Temu, and

Amazon ( AMZN ) 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.