New setback for child protection associations seeking to (finally) bend porn sites that (still) offer nothing but a vulgar warning before being able to view their content.
The Paris Court of Appeal dismissed the plaintiffs, arguing that targeting Internet service providers (ISPs) rather than the publishers of the sites in question poses a formal problem.
Targeted sites still available…
The decision left little room for doubt. Already dismissed at first instance, the two associations e-Enfance and La voix de l’enfant saw the initial judgment of the Paris Judicial Court confirmed on appeal on May 19, 2022. The problem was not so much the merits of the case , because French justice has (finally) favorable legislation in this direction to act. Moreover, the recurring snub of thousands of X-rated sites faced with the need to offer effective means to prevent far too easy access by minors to their pornographic content is no secret.
It’s more about the shape. Indeed, the Paris Court of Appeal recalls that the companies publishing the porn sites targeted by the procedure have European addresses. Consequently, it is directly against the latter, and not against the Internet service providers, that the initial procedure should have been launched. In addition to this, the ISPs seemed, at least last September, ready to play the game in the event of a court decision favorable to the plaintiffs and to block access to refractory sites.
Alas, time has passed since July 2021 and the summary proceedings of these two associations. Since then, despite the (fire) CSA formal notice issued last December, it is still just as easy for a minor, even without a VPN, to access the porn content he wants, as long as he has a screen with internet access.
… but the legal proceedings launched by ARCOM could be a game-changer
If there is currently any hope for the two child protection associations to achieve their ends indirectly, it comes from the super regulator that is ARCOM and its formal notices. As RTL reminds us, the Paris Court of Appeal states in its judgment that ” the impossibility of acting effectively and quickly against the host, against the publisher or against the author of the disputed content constitutes the necessary prerequisite for a decision requiring ISPs to block access to these porn sites.
However, as the various formal notices from ARCOM, the last in March 2022 against RedTube and YouPorn, had always remained dead letters, the hearing of May 24 at the Paris Court of Justice could this time force the publishers of the sites to to fold. Even in the event of an unfavorable judgment, ARCOM can still rely on the president of the court to impose the blocking of sites, including the mirror sites of market giants, by ISPs. The verdict, which will be known in the coming days, is therefore more than expected.
On the same subject :
Porn sites and age limit: Porndig seizes the CSA and balances 2,000 “forgotten” sites
Source : RTL
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