Cutting Access: Alylo's Move to Block Adult Content in France
Adult content platforms Pornhub, YouPorn, and RedTube announce temporary shutdown in France in a display of protest.
In an unexpected shift, Alylo, the parent company of platforms like Pornhub, YouPorn, and RedTube, has announced that it will block access to adult content in France starting Wednesday. This decision challenges the existing legislation that requires pornographic sites to verify that their users are over 18 years old.
This tactic is a political maneuver, engineered to spark consumer outrage and fuel protests against the current law, enacted in July 2020. The company argues that the responsibility for age verification should be borne by major tech giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft, which dominate the device and operating system market.
Pornhub, currently the fifth most visited site in France, could experience a significant impact due to its unrestricted and free access. This decision has already rippled across social media, with French Junior Minister for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology, Clara Chappaz, already expressing her opinion.
France's Audiovisual and Digital Communication Authority (ARCOM) reports that approximately 2.3 million minors access pornographic content every month, despite the legal ban. The new legislation aims to stem this access.
Europe's Crackdown on Adult Content
The pressure on adult platforms in Europe has been escalating in recent times. Last week, the European Commission initiated an investigation into four major platforms - Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos - over suspected violations of the Digital Services Act. The key concern lies in the inadequate assessment and mitigation of pornography-related risks, and the failure to prevent minors from accessing adult content.
The EU has several upcoming developments planned, including an age verification app scheduled for launch in July 2025. This app seeks to verify users' age without disclosing personal information to online platforms, potentially enabling more effective enforcement of online safety laws. However, this app's introduction has sparked debates around privacy and effectiveness.
These developments underscore the ongoing tension between protecting minors and the challenges faced by adult content platforms in implementing stricter measures. As the landscape evolves, alternative measures such as granular user controls and third-party content moderation are being proposed to minimize risks for minors online.
- The recent decision by Alylo to block access to adult content in France is part of a broader European crackdown on such platforms, as the European Commission has initiated an investigation into four major adult platforms.
- The company's argument for major tech giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft to bear the responsibility for age verification is echoed in the upcoming development in the EU, where an age verification app is scheduled to launch in July 2025 to help enforce online safety laws more effectively.
- The ongoing tension between protecting minors and the challenges faced by adult content platforms in implementing stricter measures is evident in the debates surrounding the effectiveness and privacy implications of the proposed age verification app and in the political maneuvering by companies like Alylo.
