World's three biggest
porn websites
now face a new age requirement in the European Union. The websites are:
Pornhub
,
XVideos
and Stripchat. The 27-nation bloc has made verifying the ages of users mandatory.
The three are the first porn sites to come under EU's Digital Services Act that came into effect earlier this year. The DSA kicked in for the biggest
online platforms
in August.
The requirements also include carrying out risk assessments, giving researchers access to publicly available data and filing regular transparency reports. The Act imposes tough obligations to keep users safe from
illegal content
and dodgy products. Any violations are punishable by fines of up to 6% of global revenue or even a ban on operating in the EU.
With this, Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat join 19 other online platforms and search engines that have already been identified for stricter scrutiny under the DSA, including TikTok, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Google and more.
Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat have now been classed as “very large online platforms” subject to more stringent controls under the Digital Services Act (DSA) because they each have 45 million average monthly users, according to the European Commission, the EU's executive branch.
Pornhub disputed its status as a very large online platform under the DSA, referring to a statement on its website saying it has 33 million average monthly users.
The law includes provisions to protect children by preventing them “from accessing pornographic content online, including with age verification tools,” the commission said in a release.
How will these websites check age
France, Germany and Britain and US states including Utah and Texas have drafted laws requiring porn sites to verify a user is 18 or older. Methods could include checking credit cards or government-issued ID or scanning faces to estimate ages, but all those systems have raised concerns about privacy and discrimination.
Europe's
digital law
also calls for measures to curb the risk of spreading illegal content online, such as child sexual abuse material, or content that breaches “fundamental rights” like privacy, such as “non-consensual” images or deepfake porn. “These measures can include adapting their terms and conditions, interfaces, moderation processes or algorithms, among others,” the commission said.
English (US) ·