Protection of minors: Pornhub, YouPorn and Redtube are back online in France

French internet users can once again watch porn more easily if required. The Canadian media and IT company Aylo has restored access to Pornhub, YouPorn and Redtube in France, as it confirmed to Politico. The parent company of the adult portals had taken them offline in the country itself at the beginning of June. With this action, it wanted to protest against the implementation of a new French law that has required operators of adult websites to introduce robust age verification systems (AVS) and block users under the age of 18 since June 7.

"The administrative court has spoken", writes Aylo in a statement. The company is thus referring to a decision by Paris judges on Monday, which temporarily suspended the proceedings. Domestic authorities cannot simply impose the statutory requirements on companies based in other EU states, the judges argued. The obligations are therefore suspended for now. Aylo's European headquarters are located in Cyprus.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ), which was called upon by the administrative judges, will now clarify whether the AVS requirement is compatible with EU law. The main focus here is on the country of origin principle of the 2002 E-Commerce Directive, which states that an EU country cannot simply regulate a company based in another member state. Exceptions are only possible after going through a formal process that includes notifying the country of origin and the EU Commission.

Aylo wants global age checks at device level

"French citizens deserve a regulation that prevents children from accessing adult content and that can be effectively enforced," commented Aylo on the decision. "They also deserve protection of their privacy and sensitive data." To achieve this, lawmakers need to understand the fact "that adult content exists on hundreds of thousands of platforms", not just the 17 websites affected in France. The court's decision provides an opportunity to "consider more effective approaches". Aylo argues that global age verification at device and operating system level would be more effective than website-based verification.

The French government intends to appeal against the court's announcement. It continues to emphasize the need to protect minors from harmful content. President Emmanuel Macron and Digital Minister Clara Chappaz are also pushing for a Europe-wide age limit of 15 years for the use of social media. In other European countries, such as Germany and the UK, regulators are also striving for stricter restrictions on porn online.

In Germany, for example, the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM) is campaigning for AVS, while porn activists consider such an obligation to be "negligent" and a threat to fundamental rights. According to a study, age verification on the internet is necessary, but not feasible in democracies. At the same time, access to the two German-language portals of Pornhub and YouPorn via major providers remains blocked following rulings by local administrative courts. In France, VPN providers that provide access to nationally blocked sites recorded a sharp increase in user numbers during the shutdown of YouPorn & Co. there.

(nen)