Porn sites: Court suspends age verification order, state contests

The battle over porn sites rages in the courts. The government will challenge the court's suspension of the decree requiring porn sites located in the European Union to verify the age of their users , the minister responsible for digital affairs told AFP on Wednesday, June 18. "The French authorities will appeal to the Council of State to reinstate the immediate obligation for sites targeted by the decree," Clara Chappaz said.

On Monday, the Paris Administrative Court, which was approached by Hammy Media, owner of the Cyprus-based website xHamster, decided to urgently suspend the order pending its compatibility with European law. Published in February, it extended to EU-based websites the obligation to prevent minors from accessing their content, in accordance with a law passed in 2024, under penalty of sanctions from the digital and audiovisual regulator, Arcom, which could include blocking.

Publishers of X sites must require the sending of a photo or an identity document , for example, by offering at least one method respecting the principle of double anonymity which allows one to prove one's majority without disclosing one's identity. "This type of litigation is neither new nor exceptional," recalled the minister, denouncing "strong legal resistance" on the part of the sites concerned "which use all means to exonerate themselves from their obligations."

In recent years, child protection associations and porn platforms have filed numerous lawsuits in France regarding this issue. For its part, Arcom told AFP that it would continue to take action "against sites established in France and outside the European Union" and noted that "at the European level, large-scale action is also beginning to be deployed."

In particular, Brussels opened an investigation at the end of May into four sites suspected of not taking sufficient measures to prevent minors from accessing their content. The Commission also indicated that it would work with national authorities to ensure that smaller pornography platforms apply the same rules.

On June 12, Arcom issued an initial warning against five pornographic sites based in the European Union, including Xhamster. Hosted in Cyprus, Aylo, the parent company of industry giants Youporn and Pornhub, suspended access to its sites in early June to protest this requirement.