Minors' Exposure to Adult Content: ARCOM Warns and Looms Over Five Websites, Including Xvideos and Xhamster, Possible Blockage Imminent
In a significant move to protect minors from online pornography, the French audiovisual watchdog, Arcom, has issued formal notices to several pornographic websites for failing to implement mandated age verification measures in France.
The websites in question, including Pornhub, YouPorn, and RedTube, have been operating without age verification since mid-2025, in violation of a French law enacted in 2024. This law requires EU-based adult sites to verify the age of visitors to prevent access by minors.
The consequences for non-compliance are severe. Arcom has issued formal warnings as a first step. If websites continue to ignore the requirements, further enforcement measures include potential blocking or delisting of these sites within France. France’s top administrative court (Council of State) recently reinforced the government's position mandating enforcement of these rules, ruling against the suspension of age verification obligations.
Some platforms, like the Aylo group sites including Pornhub and YouPorn, have already made their services unavailable in France as a means of protest or to avoid non-compliance penalties.
The deadline for compliance started in early to mid-2025, and non-compliant sites risk legal actions or restriction of service access in France if they do not meet the age-verification requirements promptly. The five websites have a three-week deadline to implement age verification at the entrance to their site.
If the five websites do not comply with the law beyond the deadline, the Arcom will initiate a procedure to dereference and block them. The fine for non-compliance can exceed €250,000 or 4% of the provider's previous year's worldwide turnover, whichever is higher.
The Arcom is the French regulatory authority responsible for overseeing digital matters. The five pornographic websites are based in the European Union.
Five other pornographic websites (Xnxx, Xvideos, Xhamster, Xhamsterlive, and Tnaflix) based in the European Union have received similar formal notices from the Arcom. The legislation has been in effect since March 2020.
The Arcom did not specify the identity of the provider to whom a letter of observations was sent regarding the removal of their age-verification system. The next meeting regarding this issue is set for August 25. Arcom continues to monitor and enforce these rules as part of France’s broader effort to protect minors from online pornography.
In light of France's condemnation of unchecked online pornography, Arcom, the French regulatory body for digital matters, has issued formal warnings to several EU-based platforms, including Pornhub, YouPorn, and RedTube, for bypassing the age-verification mandate since mid-2025, infringing the 2024 legislation. If these sites persist in non-compliance, Arcom may take further measures such as blocking or delisting them within France, which could potentially result in fines exceeding €250,000 or 4% of their previous year's worldwide turnover.
Additionally, five other EU-based pornographic sites (Xnxx, Xvideos, Xhamster, Xhamsterlive, and Tnaflix) have received similar notices from Arcom, reinforcing the government's stance on policy-and-legislation pertaining to crime-and-justice and general-news issues. The Arcom is diligently enforcing these rules as part of an ongoing endeavor to safeguard minors from online harm within the field of politics.
