The EU Commission has opened formal proceedings against Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos for suspected breaches of EU Internet rules, as EU states take their own coordinated action against smaller pornographic platforms.
The actions are part of EU efforts to protect minors from harmful content online, both as regards very large adult platforms supervised by the Commission and smaller ones that fall under the supervision of the Digital Services Coordinators.
The investigations into Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos focus on the risks for the protection of minors, including those linked to the absence of effective age verification measures.
The Commission preliminarily found that under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the platforms do not comply with putting in place:
- Appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors, in particular with age verification tools to safeguard minors from adult content.
- 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.
Under the DSA, 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 opening of formal proceedings does not prejudge its outcome and is without prejudice to any other proceeding that the Commission may decide to initiate on any other conduct that may constitute an infringement under the DSA.
In parallel, the Commission has announced the termination of the designation of Stripchat as a ‘Very Large Online Platform’. This follows a request by Stripchat and an assessment by the Commission which 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.
Stripchat’s obligations as a Very Large Online Platform will cease to apply four months from its de-designation. General obligations, including the obligation to ensure a high level of protection of minors on its service, will continue to apply to Stripchat. The supervision of Stripchat’s compliance with the DSA will rest on Cyprus Radiotelevision Authority, the DSC of the Member State where Stripchat is established.
In addition, the Member States, in the European Board for Digital Services, have launched a coordinated action to protect minors as regards pornographic content on smaller platforms. These smaller platforms fall under the supervision of the respective national Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs) of the Member State where they are established. The action complements the Commission’s opening of proceedings against the very large adult-content platforms and ensures that the DSA is applied consistently across the EU.
