Polymarket announced it will contest France's decision to block its entire website nationwide, arguing that the order is disproportionate given that trading from French users has already been disabled since November 2024.

France's National Gambling Authority (ANJ) ordered internet service providers to block the platform last week, stating that Polymarket exposed users to potential financial losses and offered markets susceptible to manipulation. The regulator also flagged concerns over inadequate identity verification procedures and suspected manipulation of weather-related markets.

In a press release, Polymarket said it would challenge the decision through the French legal system, calling the full-site block disproportionate because it affects users who visit the platform solely to access information rather than to trade.

"We were surprised at the ANJ decision to block access to our entire website because their measure targets people going to Polymarket purely for information," the company said. "We are proud that most people come to Polymarket solely to learn the probability of future events relevant to their everyday life with no intention to trade. Prediction markets help source truth."

The dispute centers in part on how Polymarket's contracts should be classified. The company describes its offerings as blockchain-based financial instruments traded directly between users, with prices determined by market activity. Polymarket emphasized that it does not take the other side of trades or profit from market outcomes, distinguishing its model from that of a traditional gambling operator that sets odds and bets against customers.

That classification question is central to how prediction-market platforms are treated by regulators: if the contracts are viewed as gambling products, operators can face licensing and consumer-protection rules that differ from those applied to financial-market venues or information services.

The ANJ disagreed, stating that the platform remained accessible even after trading restrictions were introduced and continued to promote an unauthorized gambling service.

France's action goes beyond the trading restriction Polymarket had already imposed. The company had blocked transactions from French users since November 2024, but the ANJ ordered the entire website blocked because visitors could still view live market probabilities. The legal challenge therefore turns not only on whether French users can trade, but also on whether access to market data and probabilities can be restricted as part of gambling enforcement.

France is the latest in a series of countries to order ISP-level blocks against Polymarket. Ukraine imposed a block in January, with no legal framework currently available for the platform to operate in the country, according to a government policy official. Argentina followed in March, and Spain blocked both Polymarket and Kalshi in May.

Other countries including Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Romania have also restricted access to or classified Polymarket as an unauthorized gambling platform.

CoinDesk has reached out to Polymarket to ask whether it is challenging enforcement decisions in other jurisdictions and had not received a response at the time of writing.