Foreign porn websites blocked in France for lack of age control checks

Four non-EU pornographic web sites – TuKif, xHamster, MrSexe and IciPorno – will have to be blocked in France, after the Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday said they take insufficient measures to check the age of users.

Under the order, they must be taken offline within 15 days and will remain so unless they implement more rigorous age verification system.

The court said the measure should last “until it is demonstrated that they have implemented a control other than purely declarative control of the fact that users are adults.”

In its decision, the Court considered that “the best interests of the child” are a “primary consideration” that justifies infringing on “other rights such as freedom of expression or communication”.

The legal battle dates back to 2020, when NGOs and civil society groups asked internet service providers to block access to pornographic sites that do not verify the age of Internet users.

A French law on domestic violence from 2020 states that porn sites must check that minors do not access their content, but sites have begun legal proceedings to avoid its application. In December 2021 online regulator Arcom formally notified five pornographic sites (Pornhub, TuKif, xHamster, Xvideo, XNXX) to stop allowing access to minors.

For websites hosted in the EU – such as Pornhub and Youporn – the French justice system is awaiting a ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) before issuing its decision.

The European Commission is also watching the issue of age verification closely. The protection of minors is a priority issue under the Digital Services Act (DSA). 

The Commission in June asked platforms Pornhub, Stripchat, and XVideos additional questions on measures they take to mitigate risks with the protection of minors online, as required under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The questions came after the platforms were designated as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOP) under the DSA last December. They appealed, and that legal process is still ongoing.