The Paris court has chosen to postpone its decision on the blocking of 5 pornographic sites in France.
This request had been filed by the French Council of Associations for the Rights of the Child (COFRADE) nearly three years ago. Unsurprisingly, his representatives strongly criticized the choice of justice, which he considers hypocritical when a law on the issue has existed since 2020.
A status quo that lasts
In 2020, a law was passed to protect minors from pornographic content. This law, therefore, required the sites concerned to verify the age in a reliable and more thorough way than by a simple pop-up on arrival. Faced with the immobility of the platforms on the issue, COFRADE decided to take legal action in the wake of the promulgation of the law. But, after a legal obstacle course, the choice of the Paris court to postpone its decision was, unsurprisingly, a huge disappointment for these associations. The latter simply asked for the blocking of sites that did not comply with this decision, including some of the biggest in the sector such as Pornhub or Xhamster.
On the side of the lawyers of the sites concerned, who obviously welcome the choice of the judges, this decision is logical in view of the law itself, which they consider “poorly done, imprecise, and incomplete”. In question ? The law gives them the choice to use whatever techniques they deem sufficiently accurate and secure to perform age verification. A description deemed too vague by the sites concerned, which have since multiplied appeals, in particular before the Council of State to try to delay the application.
The blue card to verify his age?
The plaintiff associations do not want the pure and simple prohibition of pornographic sites in France, and only 5 are cited in the trial finally postponed this Friday. Arthur Melon, General Delegate of COFRADE, explains that ” If they don’t know how to do it, there are plenty of other porn sites that don’t pose any difficulties, because as luck would have it, you just have to register with a credit card “. An observation which aims above all to criticize the hypocrisy of French justice.
In view of recent experiences, however, it is not difficult to understand why some porn sites are reluctant to switch to this system: similar legislation has been passed in some American states. After initially trying to comply, Pornhub saw its traffic drop by 90%, prompting the platform to simply discontinue its service in protest. For COFRADE, it will therefore be necessary to wait for justice to really force their hand.
Source : 20 minutes
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