Pornhub, which is among the most frequented sites in France, has declared that it will prevent users in the country from accessing its website beginning today.
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Pornhub, which is among the most frequented sites in France, has declared that it will prevent users in the country from accessing its website beginning today.
The major global adult content platform has issued a warning about the possible complete halt of its operations in France due to the country’s new strict age verification laws, which it argues expose users’ private information to risks from malicious entities, hacking incidents, and data breaches.
According to the company’s representative, starting today, Pornhub users in France will see a message criticizing the age verification requirements, with the intention of directly conveying “how hazardous, how potentially invasive to privacy, and how ineffective the French legislation is.”
The French regulatory authority, Arcom, now requires all adult websites to establish stringent age verification systems to prevent minors from accessing explicit content. Non-compliance may result in substantial fines and/or the complete blocking of the website within the country.
According to the legislation, the third-party verification technologies would ascertain a user’s age without gathering personal information.
Nevertheless, Aylo has contended that the existing technological solutions either violate user privacy or lack adequate reliability. The company asserts its support for age verification but advocates for more secure, device-level solutions.
Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, which also manages such well-known adult websites like RedTube and YouPorn – has raised concerns about the practicality of conforming to the French regulations by the deadline of June 7.
The company stated that the existing technological solutions either violate user privacy or lack adequate reliability. Aylo does support age verification but advocates for more secure, device-level solutions, according to the company’s representative.
“Google, Apple, and Microsoft all have the capability built into their operating systems to verify the age of the user at the operating system or device level. Those three entities are large and powerful, but that is not an excuse for France to do what they have done,” an Aylo representative said.
Meanwhile, the French government claims that these measures are crucial for safeguarding minors on the Internet. Aurore Berge, the minister delegate for equality between women and men and the fight against discrimination, has charged Pornhub, YouPorn, and RedTube with failing to “adhere to our legal framework” and opting to depart “for the better.”
“There will be less violent, degrading, and humiliating content accessible to minors in France. Bye,” Berge posted on X yesterday.
“Requiring pornographic sites to verify the age of their users isn’t stigmatizing adults, but rather protecting our children,” added the country’s Digital Minister, Clara Chappaz.
French President Emmanuel Macron, last month, threw his full support behind the regulation that requires compulsory age verification not only for adult websites but also for teenagers who register on social media platforms such as Facebook and X, emphasizing that online networks have played a role in causing distress and mental health challenges among the French youth.
France, Spain, and Greece are also pushing for mandatory age verification on platforms like Meta’s Facebook and Elon Musk’s X. The three countries reportedly contend that the absence of effective and widespread age-verification systems obstructs the enforcement of age restrictions. They intend to utilize the EU’s economic influence, with its 450 million consumers, to force US tech giants to set up mandatory, comprehensive age verification systems.
