Pornographic platforms domiciled in France and outside the European Union (EU) have only two days left to implement a definitive age verification system that is both "privacy-friendly" and "effective," or face sanctions that could include their blocking. These X-rated sites were supposed to comply by January 11, but were granted an extension until Friday, April 11, a period during which they could use bank cards as a transitional measure. It's now over.
As of Friday, April 11, these X sites must offer a definitive solution other than bank card verification, with at least one "double anonymity" age verification device, according to the technical framework adopted by the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom) in October 2024. As a reminder, these solutions allow Internet users to transmit proof of their majority without disclosing their identity. The latter is entrusted to a trusted third party who then transmits it to the site, without revealing the Internet user's identity.
Technical requirements to be met
According to the framework, platforms will be "free to choose the solutions of their choice", provided that they comply with "the technical requirements of the framework" of Arcom, namely, systems that are "reliable and offer a sufficient degree of privacy protection". The objective of these rules, put in place by the SREN law of May 2024, is to prevent the 2.3 million minors from visiting pornographic sites – a monthly figure from an Arcom study published in 2023, which covers the year 2022.
Such systems must:
- be triggered "whenever a service is consulted",
- be compliant with privacy protection standards in "double anonymity" via a trusted third party,
- be reliable, with the platforms responsible for ensuring the security of such operations by launching, for example, "a coordinated awareness campaign on the risks of phishing". "The system must be robust against the risks of attacks, such as deepfakes, spoofing, etc.," warned Arcom last October.
The SREN law, aimed at securing and regulating the digital space, provides for a fine of up to 4% of all recalcitrant X-rated sites, and for their sites to be blocked by Internet service providers. Such blocking can be challenged before the administrative court.
A longer deadline for X-rated sites domiciled in the EU
Note that for pornographic platforms domiciled within the EU, the deadline is slightly longer. In accordance with a order published on March 6, 2025 in the Official Journal which listed the sites concerned, YouPorn, PornHub, RedTube, TukxHamster (domiciled in Cyprus), Jacquie et Michel (Hungary and Spain), XNXX and Xvidéos (Czech Republic) and Tukif (Portugal) have three months, until June 6, 2025, to implement an age verification system compliant with the Arcom standard.
On March 6, the telecoms regulator explained that it had sent a letter of observation to five sites located in France and outside the EU that had not implemented any age verification system – the sites concerned were not named: this is the first step, before blocking. According to AFP, three of them finally implemented an age verification system on Thursday, April 3.
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