The European Union (EU) has initiated a two-pronged offensive against pornographic websites due to the risks they pose to minors. The European Commission is investigating four major platforms (Pornhub, XVideos, Stripchat, and XNXX) for potential violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), focusing on inadequate age verification and risk assessment measures. Member states are simultaneously targeting smaller websites.
The Commission's preliminary findings indicate that these platforms lack sufficient measures to protect minors, including effective age verification tools. The investigation centers on the absence of adequate measures to ensure the privacy, safety, and protection of minors and the insufficient risk assessment regarding the impact on the mental and physical well-being of users.
Several EU member states (including Spain, France, Denmark, Italy, and Greece) are cooperating in this initiative. The EU's Digital Services Board is playing a key role. The Commission can impose coercive measures if the platforms fail to comply, as demonstrated in a previous case with TikTok. The process, however, doesn't have specific deadlines. The Commission hopes that the threat of coercive measures will prompt companies to implement the necessary changes.
Pornhub (owned by MindGeek) and Stripchat are based in Cyprus. XVideos and XNXX are located in the Czech Republic and part of the same group, WebGroup Czech Republic.