The EU is investigating Pornhub and other pornography platforms for allegedly failing to protect minors from online sexual content under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The European Commission “has opened formal proceedings against Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos for suspected breaches of the DSA,” and aims “to ensure a safer environment online for minors,” the EU executive announced this week.
The investigation will focus on the pornography platforms’ “absence of effective age verification measures,” among other things.
The European Commission says it has “preliminarily found” that the porn platforms do not comply with having established “Appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy” and “safety and security for minors” involving age verification tools.
It also accuses the pornographic platforms of failing to put in place “Risk assessment and mitigation measures of any negative effects on the rights of the child, the mental and physical well-being of users, and to prevent minors from accessing adult content, notably via appropriate age verification tools.”
“Online platforms must ensure that the rights and best interests of children are central to the design and functioning of their services. If proven, failure to comply with these requirements would constitute infringements of the DSA,” the European Commission said.
Violation of the DSA can result in a fine of up to six percent of the company’s annual global turnover, according to a report by Politico.
Meanwhile, there exists no time limit under which an EU investigation must conclude, and the probes may also increase in scope.
The Commission also announced it is terminating the designation of Stripchat as a “Very Large Online Platform,” which refers to online platforms with over 45 million monthly active users in the EU.
This comes after an assessment that “concluded that Stripchat’s number of average monthly active recipients in the EU had been lower than the relevant threshold for an uninterrupted period of one year,” the European Commission said.
In the meantime, national authorities in Europe will work together to oversee smaller porn platforms’ compliance with EU law under the Digital Services Board, the European Commission added.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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