The Pornhub, Tukif, XHamster, Xvideos and Xnxx platforms are in the sights of Arcom. © Shutterstock
The noose is tightening around pornographic sites. Accused of not protecting minors enough, several platforms including Pornhub, Tukif, XHamster, Xvideos and Xnxx are in the sights of the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom), merger of the CSA and the Hadopi.
Letting Internet users access porn content without giving themselves the means to properly verify their age has been an offense since July 20, 2020. However, the sites concerned have not done enough to comply with the law in the eyes of the public. Arcom, who therefore took legal action. In this context, the Paris court will deliver its verdict on July 7 on the blocking or not of these platforms.
Pornhub seized the Court of Cassation
To defend themselves, the lawyers of the companies publishing the targeted sites pleaded their cause by formulating requests for nullity of procedure and by claiming a stay of proceedings. Indeed, companies, such as MG Freesites, which publishes Pornhub, or Web Group Czech, which publishes Xvideos and Xnxx, believe that the law is not sufficiently precise on the technical procedures expected to set up a device for verifying age.
In addition, they deplore not having been associated with the experiment carried out by the government to test a “double anonymity” age verification solution and ensure that Arcom was not clear enough about its intentions with European authorities. Pornhub had even seized the Court of Cassation in October 2022 to address a priority question of constitutionality (QPC) to the Constitutional Council, but the platform’s request had been rejected.
Determined to bang on the table, the regulator intensified its offensive this week by issuing formal notice to three new pornographic sites, namely xHamsterLive, Heureporno and Folieporno, and by filing a complaint with the President of the Paris Court of Justice against two new sites from MG Freesites, owned by the world leader in porn Mindgeek. In addition to Arcom, child protection associations also tried to block several pornographic sites, but the Paris court and then the Paris Court of Appeal rejected their request. These associations, including La Voix de l’enfant, had requested that access to these platforms be blocked by Internet service providers (ISPs), which can only occur as a last resort.