The European Commission (EC) has accused four porn platforms of not doing enough to prevent minors from accessing their content. In his preliminary conclusions of a 10 month investigationthe European Union regulator said Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos had breached the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The EC said the platforms have an ineffective “self-declaration” measure: they only require users to make a single click to declare that they are over 18 years old. Efforts such as content warnings, page blurring, and “adults only” labels also do not effectively prevent minors from accessing harmful content. As such, the EC said the platforms were failing to protect the welfare and rights of minors, and it required them to implement privacy-preserving age verification systems.
Furthermore, the EC said the quartet failed to use objective and thorough methodologies to fully assess the risks faced by minors accessing content on their platforms. The regulator determined that Stripchat, Xvideos and XNXX made false claims or failed to take into account consultations with children’s rights organizations and age verification systems in their risk assessments. He also suggested that platforms’ risk assessments “disproportionately emphasize business-centric concerns, such as reputational damage, rather than focusing on societal risks to minors.”
Platforms now have the opportunity to review and respond to the EC’s preliminary findings. They may also implement measures to address suspected violations of the DSA. However, if the Commission confirms that platforms have failed to comply with the DSA and decides to issue a non-compliance decision, porn providers could face fines of up to six percent of their overall annual turnover.
“In the EU, online platforms have a responsibility. Children are accessing adult content at younger and younger ages and these platforms must put in place robust, privacy-respecting and effective measures to keep minors away from their services,” Henna Virkkunen, the European Union’s executive vice-president for technological sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a statement. “Today we are taking another step to enforce the DSA, ensuring children are properly protected online, as they have the right to be.”
This article was originally published on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/eu-says-pornhub-and-others-failed-to-stop-minors-accessing-adult-content-155632108.html?src=rss
