Pornhub and other famous online platforms for the dissemination of porn videos could soon be obliged to verify the age of all their users, and not only show a key that asks the confirmation of being of age and that can also be pressed by a child.
The European Commission has announced the opening of a formal investigation against the content platforms for adults pornhub, stripchat, xnxx and xvideos for alleged violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), the European legislation that regulates online content. At the center of the disputes is the non -compliance with mandatory measures to protect minors from access to pornographic content.
According to Brussels, the four platforms would not have adopted adequate systems to prevent minors from accessing their content, in violation of the rules that impose risk assessments and mitigation measures to protect the rights of childhood.
Fines risk
The sanctions for the violation of the DSA can reach up to 6 percent of the global annual turnover. The companies concerned were classified as “very large online platforms” in 2023, and therefore subject to the most stringent obligations provided for by the legislation.
Pornhub is part of the Cipriota group Aylo Freesites Ltd, Xnxx is owned by the Czech company NKL Associates, StripChat is a subsidiary of the Cypriot Technius Ltd, while XVideos belongs to the Czech Republic Webgroup group.
Protect children
“Online space should be a safe environment for children to learn and connect. Our priority is to protect minors and allow them to surf online safely,” said the European Commissioner for digital Henna Virkkunen in a press release. “In collaboration with the coordinators of the digital services of the Member States, we are determined to face everything that can harm young users online,” he added.
Hardest rules
With over 45 million European users per month each, Pornhub, Xnxx and Xvideos fall among the very large platforms subject to the strengthened rules of the DSA, like X (ex Twitter), TikTok, Google or Facebook (Meta). StripChat, on the other hand, will be removed from this list because it does not reach the threshold of 45 million monthly users. However, the change of status will take several months, and in the meantime the strengthened rules will continue to apply.
Risks for privacy
European legislation requires large platforms to evaluate and mitigate the risks connected to the use of its services. According to the Commission, the four pornographic sites would not have taken sufficient measures to avoid “any negative effect on the rights of the childhood, on the mental and physical well -being of users”.
At the same time, the EU executive has made it known that the Member States will also co -order joint actions against smaller pornographic platforms, always with the aim of strengthening the protection of minors online.
