EU: Large and Small Online Porn Sites Probed for Failing to Protect Kids
The European Commission said Tuesday it's investigating Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos for violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA) that affect minors.
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Simultaneously, EU countries in the European Board for Digital Services are taking coordinated action against smaller pornographic platforms that will boost EC efforts to protect minors from harmful content online, the EC said.
The probe of Pornhub and the other large platforms is focused on risks associated with the protection of minors, including those linked to the absence of effective age-verification measures, the EC said.
Its preliminary investigations found these sites aren't complying with requirements about taking appropriate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors, in particular via age-verification tools to keep adult content from minors.
In addition, the EC said, the platforms aren't conducting risk assessments and mitigation measures of negative effects on children's rights or the mental health and well-being of users.
The EC also announced that it would no longer designate Stripchat a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under the DSA. The move followed a request by Stripchat and an EC assessment that found that Stripchat's number of average monthly active recipients in the EU was lower than the relevant threshold for an uninterrupted period of one year.
Stripchat's obligations as a VLOP will no longer apply four months from its de-designation, the EC said. However, it added, the company still must comply with the DSA's general obligations, including ensuring a high level of protection for minors on its service.