The European Commission announced Tuesday that it is investigating a handful of pornographic platforms in an effort to protect minors from harmful online content. Those found in violation could face a significant fine.
The commission is launching investigations into Pornhub, XVideos, Stripchat and XNXX to assess the age verification measures to prevent minors from accessing the site. It is also looking at how the sites evaluate and enact risk reduction related to children’s rights and users’ mental and physical well-being.
The commission says its investigation includes “those linked to the absence of effective age verification measures,” which were reportedly missing upon a preliminary investigation.
“Online platforms must ensure that the rights and best interests of children are central to the design and functioning of their services,” the commission said in a press release.
If the companies are found to have violated the Digital Services Act (DSA), the commission’s digital content rules, they could receive a fine of up to 6 percent of the company’s annual global turnover. There isn’t a time limit under which a probe must conclude.
National authorities will also work together to oversee smaller pornographic sites in compliance with the DSA. Local authorities can also open investigations and “really kind of put pressure” on these smaller platforms, a Commission official told Politico.
Aylo, which operates several adult video-sharing websites, including Pornhub, submitted briefs to the commission in April and September 2024 advocating for the use of device-based age verification, which it says is when personal information used to verify a user’s age is either shared in-person at an authorized retailer, locally into the user’s device or stored on a network controlled by the device manufacturer or the operating system supplier.
“Such an approach requires the cooperation of manufacturers and operating-system providers,” Aylo said in a fact sheet about the suggested solution.
Pornhub said in a statement to The Hill that it is aware of the investigation and that its sites are full “restricted to adults” compliant as rated by the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP), a nonprofit organization aimed at the online protection of minors. Pornhub also advocates for device-based age verification, stating that it believes the solution is to “verify users’ ages at the point of access — the users’ devices — and for websites to deny or permit access to age-restricted materials based on that verification.”
It’s not the first time the company pushed for device-based age verification, with Pornhub’s Head of Community and Brand Alexzandra Kekesi saying in an op-ed published in XBiz in April 2024 that the solution “helps give parents the tools they need to keep their children safe.”
The Hill has reached out to Stripchat’s owner Technius Ltd., XVideos, and XNXX for comment.
The investigation stems from a larger effort by the European Union to protect minors online.
“We are not excluding future expansion of the proceedings” into other issues under the DSA, such as illegal content or ad repositories, a commission official told Politico.
—Updated at 4:02 p.m. EDT