How can we prevent minors from accessing content deemed sensitive, such as pornographic sites? A very thorny issue for which France and Europe are still seeking solutions. A new measure: an age verification application launched this summer.
France and Europe face pornographic sites
Pornographic sites have been in the sights of France and Europe for several years now. The reason is that access is too easy for minors, who have no difficulty viewing this content, other than a quick click to confirm they are "over 18" and pass this meager security barrier.
Indeed, this content, which is unsuitable for young audiences, currently has no enhanced security. France describes the phenomenon as a "major problem" and has repeatedly attempted to curb it, using legal action and bans. Last May, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld the blocking of two major pornographic sites, Xhamster and Tukif. By November 2024, both sites, as well as Mrsexe and Iciporno, had already been banned. It is clear that a temporary ban is no longer sufficient.
An application as of July 2025
In the midst of searching for an effective solution to combat the phenomenon, the European Union has just announced the implementation of an age verification application as of July 2025. Without collecting the user's personal data, it plans to identify the owner's age. The details, however, remain unclear: how can we verify that the Internet user is not lying about their age without compromising their data?
For its part, Arcom is asking the sites in question to ask young users to send a photo of their ID or send a video to an AI in order to verify their age via facial recognition. Pornographic sites are not the only target of France and Europe. The Minister for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, Clara Chappaz, has given Europe three months to reach an agreement and propose measures to verify the age of minors using social media.
It should be noted that while the legal age of consent is 15 in France, two-thirds of those under 13 have a social media account, according to a CNIL survey in 2021.
0 Comments