While several pornographic sites are up in arms against the new requirement to verify the age of their visitors, some have challenged the new rule in French courts... and successfully - even if it may only be temporary. On Monday, June 16, Hammy Media Ltd, which publishes the pornographic platform xHamster, won an appeal before the Paris Administrative Court - a decision that will be challenged by the French authorities, announced Clara Chappaz, the Minister Delegate for AI and Digital Affairs, on the evening of Wednesday, June 18.
What was it about? The administrative judge, who was ruling on a summary procedure and not on the merits, ruled on Monday that there was indeed reason, pending a final judgment, to suspend the decree that requires an age verification system for X-rated sites based in other European Union countries. This has put the government on edge, and two days later, it announced in a press release that the authorities were contesting the decision. They intend to take the issue of age verification for internet users to the Council of State, the highest administrative court.
"This type of litigation is neither new nor exceptional: public action for the protection of minors online and the banning of access to adult content is provoking strong legal resistance, particularly from the sites concerned, which are using every means to avoid their obligations," Clara Chappaz said in her press release.
At the heart of this case is the question of the compatibility of a decree with European Union law. This French decree, dated February 26, 2025, requires 17 pornographic sites located in the European Union (EU)—including xHamster—to verify the age of their users, or risk being blocked or sanctioned. As a reminder, this age verification system must now comply with the Arcom technical standard – a standard that has also been challenged in court by other pornographic sites, so far without success.
Incompatibility with European law?
In this case, judged last Monday, Hammy Media Ltd considered that the decree of February 26, 2025, did not respect a fundamental principle of EU law: the "country of origin principle." According to this rule, a company that provides or distributes a service to several EU countries must exclusively respect the law of its country of establishment – the one where it has chosen to reside. This company therefore does not have to comply with other laws from other European countries, even if they are more restrictive, with a few exceptions. According to this logic defended by Hammy Media Ltd: Paris could not enact rules applying to xHamster, since this platform is not domiciled in France. Did the argument hit the mark?
To answer the question, the administrative court first recalled that the civil courts had rightly raised the question of the compatibility of this decree with the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU), the Paris Court of Appeal having "stayed the ruling on xHamster's blocking request, pending a response from the Court of Justice of the European Union." The Council of State, on another point in the case, is also waiting for the European Court to rule before deciding.
"Age control (...) for adult sites is inevitable"
As a result, the Paris administrative court considers that "the administration must be considered as having enacted an act that raises serious doubts as to its compatibility with EU law." The interim relief judge therefore orders the suspension of the order, pending a judgment on the merits. If this decision is confirmed, it could call into question, at least temporarily, the age verification requirement for adult sites in France.
Temporarily only, because as digital law specialist Alexandre Archambault points out on his LinkedIn account, "age control (...) for adult sites is inevitable, as it is one of the objectives of European regulations, which now take precedence over any national initiative. The sites concerned, most of which are subject to Commission supervision as large platforms, will have to comply with it. Based on Community regulations.
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