San Francisco Frontiers - France presses resale platforms to remove 'stolen' goods after unrest

Six months before France elects a successor to President Emmanuel Macron, the country was rocked over the weekend by some of its worst street violence in years, with thousands of shops damaged, many looted. The unrest came after weeks of student demonstrations demanding better conditions in schools.

More than 3,000 businesses suffered damage, according to the authorities. Since Sunday, screenshots have circulated on social media showing online resale listings for items allegedly stolen during the weekend unrest.

"Stolen items from this weekend are being offered for sale on certain platforms," digital minister Anne Le Henanff said on X.

"We expect these platforms to remove the listings in question without delay," she said.

She convened representatives of six platforms for a meeting in the presence of interior and justice ministry officials.

"They will also be required to cooperate closely with state authorities so that those reselling stolen goods can be prosecuted," Le Henanff added.

According to the French commerce ministry, representatives of Vinted, Amazon, eBay, Leboncoin, Meta and TikTok as well as French online retail association Fevad were invited for talks.

Contacted by AFP, Vinted said it applied a policy of "zero tolerance" in such cases and was cooperating "actively with law enforcement and the French authorities".

"Since this weekend, our teams have acted immediately to identify and remove listings that may involve stolen goods, and we have strengthened monitoring of suspicious listings," the Vilnius-based second-hand platform said, without specifying the scale of the problem.

eBay said it was "not in a position to confirm an increase in listings that may be linked to thefts committed over the weekend".

The online auction platform said it used "proactive technological tools" to detect the sale of stolen goods.

O.Green--SFF