EU requires porn giants to keep children safe from online content

Three of the world’s biggest pornography sites have been ordered to prevent children accessing their websites by the European Union.

Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat have been designated Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and told to do more to ensure the safety of children.

In the UK, new draft guidance from Ofcom intends to make it much harder for under-18s to access pornography websites, in keeping with the requirements of the new Online Safety Act.

Age verification

Alongside more general DSA obligations, the porn sites must moderate their content more diligently, introduce “strong protection” for minors – including “age verification tools” – and demonstrate greater transparency.

EU Digital Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “I have been very clear that creating a safer online environment for our children is an enforcement priority under the DSA”.

Following their designation as VLOPs on 20 December, the companies have been given four months by the EU to comply with the directive. Failure to do so risks a fine of up to 6 per cent of their global turnover.

Ofcom

In keeping with the Online Safety Act, the UK regulator’s guidelines, which are open to consultation until March 2024, require age-verification systems which “could be considered highly effective”.

Whilst the guidelines do not demand use of a specific system, they set out examples, such as facial technology combined with credit card checks, which would meet the threshold.

In contrast, Ofcom emphasised that “self-declaration of age”, “general terms, disclaimers or warnings” would fall foul of its requirements. Firms that fail to comply could be fined up to £18m or 10% of their global annual revenue.