Europe tries to force age verification onto Pornhub and other adult sites

European regulators have opened formal proceedings into Pornhub and three other adult platforms for suspected violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Commission announced yesterday. Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos are accused of failing to prevent minors from accessing adult content.

"The Commission preliminarily found that 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," the EC said.

The regulatory body said preventing minors from accessing adult content with age verification tools is needed to prevent "negative effects on the rights of the child" and "the mental and physical well-being of users."

The EC's preliminary finding is based on risk assessment and audit reports sent by the companies and their replies to the EC's requests for information.

"Protecting young users online is one of the key enforcement priorities under the DSA," the EC said. "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."

EC threatens penalties, looks for settlement

DSA violations can be punished with fines of up to 6 percent of total worldwide annual turnover. The opening of formal proceedings means the commission will investigate further and could "take further enforcement steps, such as adopting interim measures and non-compliance decisions," the EC's announcement said. The commission said it could also "accept commitments made by Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos to remedy the issues raised in the proceedings."