YouPorn, PornHub and RedTube reactivated in France
By The New Obs with AFP
Published on , updated on
Aylo, the company that owns YouPorn, PornHub, and RedTube, claims to have seven million daily visitors in France across its various platforms. CHARLES BURY/SIPA
The Paris administrative court on Monday suspended the government order requiring French pornography platforms to verify the age of their users pending "the determination of whether it was compatible with European law."
A setback for the government, and a resounding comeback. After a fortnight of black screens, the websites YouPorn, PornHub, and RedTube have been reactivated in France by their owners following the French courts' suspension of the decree requiring pornographic platforms located in the European Union to verify the age of their users.
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Hosted in Cyprus, the company Aylo—which owns the three sites—made them inaccessible in early June to protest the 2024 French law that requires publishers of adult-oriented sites to implement an identification system preventing minors from accessing them, under penalty of sanctions from the digital and audiovisual regulator, Arcom, which could include blocking. The legislation in question required the submission of a photo or identity document, while offering at least one method that respected the principle of double anonymity, which allows users to prove their age of majority without disclosing their identity.
The decision by the Paris administrative court, which suspended the order on Monday pending its compatibility with European law, "offers an opportunity to reconsider more effective approaches," explains a message on the homepage of the three Aylo sites, which advocate age verification at the device and operating system level.
" I remain fully determined to enforce the age verification requirement on all pornographic sites (...) This fight is my priority ," reacted Digital Minister Clara Chappaz sur X, who signed the order with Rachida Dati, specifying that the government will appeal to the Council of State.
The Ministry of Culture's inaction is to blameIn detail, it was the xHamster website, published by the Cypriot company Hammy Media LTD, that successfully argued the incompatibility of the order with EU law. The government was aware of this argument, but it did not deign to intervene in court to defend and counter-argue. " The Minister of Culture, to whom the request was communicated, did not submit any observations in defense, " the ruling states.
According to the online media L'informé , this point was even transmitted in advance to Rachida Dati's services, but without them deciding to react before the court.
Interviewed by the same media outlet, lawyer Alexandre Archambault believes that " there is a real problem with the method in France. The French authorities are fulfilling their role in protecting minors, but are missing the point when they legislate in their own corner. " For the lawyer, this regulation is indeed the responsibility of European authorities.
In a press release issued in response to the decision of the Paris administrative court, Clara Chappaz emphasized that she was continuing " work with the European Commission to strengthen the obligations of pornographic sites established in the European Union in terms of age verification ."
By The New Obs with AFP
