Arcom (ex-CSA) announced on Tuesday March 8 that it had taken legal action to demand the blocking of five pornographic sites, summoned in vain since last December to prevent access to their content by minors.
A first ultimatum will therefore not have been enough. The targeted platforms, Pornhub, Pornhub, Xhamster, Xvideos and Xnxx, never having responded.
A month later, Roch-Olivier Maistre, president of Arcom – the media regulator, born on January 1 of the merger between the CSA and Hadopi -, threatened to take legal action.
And, on Tuesday, words turned into deeds.
Access of minors to pornographic sites | Referral to the President of the Paris Court of Justice
— Arcom (@Arcom_fr) March 8, 2022
“We have decided to take legal action because the formal notices sent to these sites have not been acted upon.»said Roch-Olivier Maistre.
He specifies that Arcom has “appealed to the President of the Paris Court of Justice to order the main Internet service providers to prevent access“. If this appeal finds a recipient, the five sites could be banned in France.
Hearing set for May 24
The case dates back to November 2020 when the CSA was seized by three associations: the Parenthood and Digital Education Observatory (Open), the National Union of Family Associations (Unaf) and the French Council of Associations for the Rights of the Child (Cofrade).
These targeted pornographic sites which they claimed were infringing because “they only had a simple ‘disclaimer’ [message d’avertissement] allowing the Internet user to declare that he is of legal age”.
In France, the criminal code prohibits exposing minors to pornographic photos and videos. The law on domestic violence of July 30, 2020 specifies that a simple click to guarantee the majority of the user does not prove anything. Moreover, no solution is offered to the sites, which must “find themselves” the decisions.
To rule on this summary procedure, a hearing date has been set for May 24. Arcom may also take legal action if the blocked sites become accessible via so-called “mirrors“.