France urges platforms to remove suspicious listings — Politico Europe

The French government summoned representatives of major online platforms to a meeting on listings for goods that may have been stolen during looting in France last weekend. Authorities want platforms to promptly remove such offers and cooperate with law enforcement to identify sellers, Politico reports.

Meeting with platforms

Digital Affairs Minister Anne Le Hénanff said platforms are expected to remove the relevant listings immediately. According to her, they must also work closely with state authorities so that people reselling potentially stolen items can be identified and held accountable.

Representatives of Vinted, Amazon, eBay, Meta, TikTok and the French platform Leboncoin were invited to the meeting scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Small Business Minister Serge Papin said officials are working to coordinate investigators and online platforms to identify the authors of suspicious listings. According to a government source who spoke to the outlet, a special protocol is planned for this purpose.

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Vinted’s response and the European Commission’s position

A Vinted France representative said that the sale of stolen goods or calls to purchase them are strictly prohibited by the service’s rules. The company said that after last weekend’s events, it began identifying and removing listings that may concern stolen items and also strengthened monitoring of suspicious offers.

European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said that the sale of looted goods through online marketplaces is a new dimension of the problem that the Commission is ready to address together with the French authorities. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu instructed local authorities to impose a partial curfew on the evening of October 19 to prevent further unrest and looting. Papin also announced a special support fund for approximately 3,000 local businesses affected by the unrest.