Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – On Tuesday, the European Commission launched an investigation into four pornographic platforms due to concerns that they are not adequately preventing children from accessing adult content, which would violate the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
According to the official statement of the European Commission,
“The Digital Services Act (DSA) pursues to create a safer online environment for minors. In this context, the EU Commission has initiated formal proceedings against Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos due to suspected violations of the DSA.”
Why is the EU investigating major porn platforms?
The European Commission said its investigations into Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos
“will strengthen the Commission’s initiative to safeguard minors from harmful online content, both for major adult platforms overseen by the Commission and for smaller platforms monitored by the Digital Services Coordinators”.
The EU Commission said its investigations into Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos
“focus on the risks to protect minors, particularly those associated with the lack of effective age verification measures”.
How are Pornhub and others violating the DSA?
It criticised the platforms for lacking suitable age verification measures to shield children from exposure to porn. In order to protect children from adult material, the EU Commission concluded that the four platforms lacked.
“appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and security for minors, in particular with age verification tools.”
Moreover, the EU Commission stated that they lacked measures to protect children’s welfare and users’ mental and physical health.
“Online platforms need to prioritise children’s rights and interests in how they are designed and operate services,”
It also said.
Why was Stripchat removed from the large platforms list?
The EU Commission also said that Stripchat will be removed from the list of extremely big platforms since, on average, it now has less than 45 million monthly active users. Their inquiry will focus on the period of time when it was under their purview.
What measures did the European Union request in June 2024?
In addition to this, In June 2024, the EU Commission demanded that Pornhub, XVideos, and Stripchat provide detailed information on steps taken to protect minors and prevent gender-based violence, as mandated under the DSA. The Commission sought specifics on age verification processes and internal compliance structures.
