Pornhub, Xvideos, Xnxx, Xhamster and Tukif will carefully follow the assignment by Arcom of French ISPs, who may have to block these pornographic sites soon.
A new chapter is about to open in the case between the French telecoms and digital regulatory authorities with pornographic sites and internet service providers. According to information from Next ImpactArcom, the new entity born of the merger between the CSA and Hadopi, has initiated a new legal action.
The institution reassigned Orange, Orange Caraïbe, Free, Free Mobile, SFR, SFR Fibre, Bouygues Télécom, Colt Technologies Services and Outre-Mer Télécom. They will all appear on September 6, 2022 before the Paris court. It concerns the request by ISPs to block several popular porn sites that do not comply with the law.
Pornhub, Xvideos, Xnxx, Xhamster and Tukif soon to be blocked by ISPs?
The five platforms concerned are Pornhub, Xvideos, Xnxx, Xhamster and Cliphunter. They are all accused of not having implemented sufficiently effective protection systems to prevent minors from accessing their content. Arcom relies on a text of law adopted on July 31, 2020 to support its arguments.
Offending porn sites simply ask their visitors if they are over 18 to freely browse and launch videos. A measure deemed insufficient by Arcom, which has already asked the sites in question to comply, which they refused to do. This is why the Authority is taking the next step, namely the direct blocking of domain names by ISPs.
Respite granted to porn sites following a procedural error
The hearing, which will take place on September 6, should have taken place on May 24, 2022. But Arcom got its hands dirty and took too long to summon the ISPs, causing the procedure to be delayed by several months.
If the blocking of Pornhub, Xvideos, Xnxx, Xhamster and Tukif is validated, Arcom will be able to focus on that of other pornographic sites also in the viewfinder for the same reasons. In a decision rendered in October 2021, the Paris court considered that the actions should above all target the publishers and hosts of porn sites rather than ISPs. But because of their opacity, these actors are much more difficult to attack.
Source: Next Impact