Report from Euractiv
In Brief – A French administrative court has paused the implementation of a national law enacted in 2024 that requires all websites displaying adult content to use technical age verification methods to block minors in France from accessing their sites. The Administrative Court of Paris suspended the age verification requirement only for online porn companies that are based in EU member states other than France. The law was initially applied to porn sites registered in France, such as Dorcel, along with those registered outside of the EU, like OnlyFans. The application of the rules were lastly extended to sites based in other EU countries, including the sector giants like Pornhub, based in Cyprus, however they challenged the procedures of the French Government arguing that they did not properly notify the European Commission and receive approval for a law circumventing the EU’s country-of-origin principle established by the 2002 E-Commerce Directive that prohibits a country from regulating an online company based in another EU state. The French Government is appealing the court decision, with its Digital Minister reaffirming the government’s commitment to enforcing the age checks and insisting that its rules align with the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
Context – Regulating digital platforms to “protect” teenagers from online harms is a global phenomenon. Porn sites and social media platforms are the top targets, and France is at the forefront. Along with its mandate for technical age verification for porn sites, President Emmanuel Macron is calling for a 15-year-old age limit for social media platforms in the European Union, and if need be just in France, following school stabbings in the country. Macron says that digital platforms are capable doing age verification and therefore, “Let’s do it.” Along with requiring online porn sites to use technical age verification, his government is considering imposing the same requirement on social media platforms that allow pornographic content to circulate, which includes platforms like X, Reddit, and BlueSky. In the US, the Supreme Court has upheld an age limit for online porn.