EU announces major clampdown on popular porn sites – FT

Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat will now fall under new online content rules under the Digital Services Act

The EU has added some of the most popular adult websites – Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos – to its list of “very large online platforms” that must follow strict guidelines under the so-called Digital Services Act (DSA). 

The move was announced on Wednesday by the bloc’s industry chief Thierry Breton in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the three platforms had met the threshold of 45 million users to fall under the DSA obligations. Previously, tech groups such as Facebook, Wikipedia and TikTok had also received the designation.

“Creating a safer online environment for our children is an enforcement priority under the DSA,” Breton said. As noted by the Financial Times, the three porn sites will now likely be forced to apply systems that can verify the age of users and include measures to take down illegal content such as non-consensual videos.

The DSA, which came into effect in August across the EU, requires all major tech companies to conduct risk management, undergo external and independent auditing, and share data with authorities and researchers. Such companies also have to do more to tackle disinformation, give more protection to users, and ensure stronger protection for children. Businesses found to have breached DSA obligations can face a fine of as much as 6% of their global turnover.

As of August, these rules have been applied to companies such as Amazon, AliExpress, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and others.

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Earlier this week, Breton announced that the EU would be launching “formal infringement proceedings” against Elon Musk’s X, citing an alleged violation of the DSA terms. The EU commissioner claimed that the move was taken in response to X’s failure to counter illegal content and disinformation, particularly that which related to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The company was also accused of breaching transparency obligations and implementing “suspected deceptive design of user interface.”

In response, Musk said his platform would cooperate with the regulatory process, but stressed that it was important that this process was “free of political influence and follows the law.” X CEO Linda Yaccarino also stated that the company was “working to address the operational needs” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and noted that the platform had removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts.