EU Investigates Porn Platforms Over Child Safety Law

On May 26, the European Commission (EC) announced it would launch an investigation into major pornography distributors Pornhub, XVideos, XNXX, and Stripchat over the child safety policies set by the Digital Services Act (DSA). If in breach, these websites could face fines of up to 6% of their annual revenue.

The European Commission is the executive arm of the European Union (EU). In 2022, it passed the DSA to “prevent illegal and harmful activities online.” The law imposes stricter rules on what the Commission designates as “Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs).”

In January, the Commission launched an investigation into the spread of disinformation on VLOPs such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and others.

Since their 2023 designation as VLOPs, the EC has regulatory oversight over the four sites under the DSA.

A preliminary investigation by the EC found that the sites fail to provide appropriate privacy, safety, security, and risk assessment to safeguard minors from accessing their content. The EC cited a lack of adequate age verification tools.

Regarding the investigation, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy of the EC, Henna Virkkunen, said: “The online space should be a safe environment for children to learn and connect. Our priority is to protect minors and allow them to navigate safely online. Together with the Digital Service Coordinators in the Member States we are determined to tackle any potential harm to young online users.”

In an email response to multiple press outlets, Aylo Freesites Ltd. the parent company of Pornhub, said that it was aware of the investigation and “fully committed to the safety of minors.”

“We believe that the real solution for protecting minors and adults alike is to verify users’ ages at the point of access – the users’ devices – and for websites to deny or permit access to age-restricted materials based on that verification.”

The EC said the investigations are part of a larger coordinated action by the European Board for Digital Services to prevent minors from accessing pornography on smaller online platforms.

After the commission announced the launch of its investigation, Stripchat issued a request to be removed from the VLOP classification, which the EC has since granted.

In April, the UK’s media watchdog Ofcom issued a £1.05 million fine to OnlyFans over failures in its age-verification policies. The platform is widely known for its distribution of adult content.