The State will challenge the suspension of the decree on age verification.
French Government to Appeal Suspension of Age Verification Order for Porn Sites
The dispute between French authorities and a segment of the adult entertainment industry continues. The government will challenge the court’s suspension of the order requiring pornography websites located within the European Union to verify the age of their users, Clara Chappaz, the minister in charge of artificial intelligence and digital affairs, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, June 18.
“The French authorities will appeal to the Conseil d’Etat to reinstate the immediate obligation for sites targeted by the order,” stated Ms. Chappaz. The administrative court of Paris, responding to a challenge by Hammy Media, the Cyprus-based owner of Xhamster, decided on Monday to urgently suspend the order, pending verification of its compatibility with European law.
Published in February, the order extended the obligation to prevent minors from accessing content to sites established in the EU, in accordance with a law passed in 2024. Failure to comply could result in sanctions from the digital and audiovisual regulator, Arcom, potentially including blocking. X-rated site operators must require the submission of a photo or identity document, for example, offering at least one method that respects the principle of double anonymity, allowing users to prove their age without revealing their identity. Previously, users could simply click on a declaration of honor.
Industry Resistance
A portion of the pornography industry argues that it is not the responsibility of the sites to perform this verification, but that it should be done at the level of the user’s smartphone or computer, passing the responsibility to Apple, Google, and Microsoft. The major owners of online pornography sites also accuse France of endangering consumer privacy by imposing intrusive and unreliable verification mechanisms.
Increasing Legal Challenges
“This type of litigation is neither new nor exceptional,” the minister noted, denouncing “strong legal resistance” from the sites concerned, “who are using every means to evade their obligations.” In recent years, child protection associations and X-rated platforms have increased legal proceedings in France around this issue.
Arcom told AFP that it would continue to act “against sites established in France and outside the European Union” and recalled “that at the European level, a large-scale action is beginning to unfold” as well. Brussels opened an investigation at the end of May against four sites suspected of not taking sufficient measures to prevent minors from accessing their content. The Commission also reported that it would collaborate with national authorities to ensure that smaller pornography platforms apply the same rules.
On June 12, Arcom issued a first warning against five pornography sites established in the European Union, including Xhamster. Aylo, a multinational company based in Cyprus that owns numerous sites, including Youporn and Pornhub, suspended access to these sites in early June to protest the obligation.
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