The EU has opened inquiries into Pornhub, Stripchat, XVideos, and XNXX as they purportedly violate online content regulations regarding child safety, raising concerns about inadequate age verification methods.
**EU Launches Investigation into Major Pornography Sites Over Child Safety Compliance**
**EU Launches Investigation into Major Pornography Sites Over Child Safety Compliance**
The European Commission examines Pornhub and others for failing to implement child protection measures.
The European Commission has initiated an investigation into Pornhub, Stripchat, and two other major pornography websites—XVideos and XNXX—over concerns that they may not be complying with EU online content laws intended to protect children. Authorities believe these platforms lack sufficient measures to safeguard minors, specifically highlighting their failure to implement "appropriate" age verification systems to restrict children from accessing adult content.
The Commission stated that online platforms must prioritize the rights and well-being of children in the design and functioning of their services. Preliminary findings revealed that the four websites have not established adequate safeguards to ensure the privacy and security of minors. Current age verification tactics, such as "click away" prompts asking users if they are over 18, were deemed ineffective and insufficient in properly limiting access to adult material for children.
This inquiry comes amid a broader international examination of online pornography services, with regulators globally increasing pressure on sites that neglect to enforce age verification protocols. The BBC has sought comments from Pornhub and Stripchat regarding these allegations.
In recent weeks, the UK's Ofcom has begun its own investigations into pornographic sites lacking age verification tools, further illustrating the growing scrutiny aimed at the adult content industry. Pornhub, the world’s most visited porn site and the 19th most popular website overall, has faced increasing regulatory scrutiny. It has already blocked access in 16 states across the U.S. that have implemented laws requiring user age verification.
In a blog post from January, Pornhub suggested that age verification could be conducted through users' devices rather than on individual sites, claiming it would enhance user privacy and simplify compliance for regulators.
Under the EU's 2023 Digital Services Act, the companies targeted by this investigation are classified as very large online platforms, which imposes stricter regulations on them to combat harmful content. If violations are substantiated, these platforms could face enforcement actions or hefty fines reaching up to 6% of their annual revenue. Notably, while Stripchat will no longer be classified as a very large online platform, it remains under scrutiny for potential non-compliance with digital content regulations.
The Commission emphasizes that protecting minors online is a top priority. Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's executive vice-president for technology sovereignty, security, and democracy, stressed the commitment to safeguarding young internet users through coordinated action among member states to enforce compliance, even for smaller platforms below the 45 million EU user threshold.
