Pornhub, XVideos, and Stripchat hit with tough new EU safety regulations

[bnew]

Pornhub, XVideos, and Stripchat hit with tough new EU safety regulations

Stricter age verification will be required.

www.theverge.com

Pornhub, XVideos, and Stripchat hit with tough new EU safety regulations


EU officials have officially designated the three porn sites as ‘Very Large Online Platforms’ under the bloc’s Digital Services Act. It means they’ll have new obligations around age verification and taking down illegal content.

By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.

Dec 20, 2023, 5:56 AM EST|33 Comments / 33 New

A PornHub banner from the 2023 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Porn sites Pornhub, XVideos, and Stripchat face stricter requirements to verify the ages of their users after being officially designated as “Very Large Online Platforms” (VLOPs) under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). In a press release today, the European Commission said the three sites “fulfil the threshold of 45 million average monthly users in the EU.” The sites will have to comply with the DSA obligations by February 2024.

Being designated as a VLOP means the sites will also have to conduct risk assessments and mitigate the spread of illegal content like child sexual abuse material and deepfake pornography. There are also transparency requirements like being subject to external audits, publishing transparency reports on content moderation decisions, and providing publicly available data to researchers.



“I welcome the designations of Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat as Very Large Online Platforms. It will allow for higher scrutiny and accountability of their algorithms and processes,” said the EU’s Margrethe Vestager in a statement.

The Commission announced an initial set of 17 Very Large Online Platforms and two Very Large Online Search Engines in April 2023. This list included the likes of Amazon, the Apple App Store, Facebook, Instagram, X (then known as Twitter), YouTube, and Google Search. But that list did not include any pornography-specific services.

Services are deemed to be a “very large” platform if they have at least 45 million monthly active users in the bloc. XVideos said it had 160 million “average monthly recipients” of its service in the European Union. Pornhub has said it had 33 million months users, but its inclusion on the list of new VLOPs means that the EU doesn’t buy the company’s self-reported numbers. Meanwhile, XHamster reported 32 million monthly users and YouPorn 7.2 million.

In October, A group of 30 NGOs including European Digital Rights, the Center of Democracy and Technology, and European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance called the numbers reported by some big porn platforms “surprisingly small,” Euractiv reported at the time, and the NGOs have pushed for major pornography sites to be designated as VLOPs.

“When asked to disclose the total of their monthly users... some big porn platforms have presented surprisingly small numbers that have allowed them to temporarily elude the designation as VLOPs,” the group wrote in its open letter. “These numbers seem to be a misrepresentation of their monthly average users in the EU, therefore indicating that these platforms are actively attempting to dodge their responsibilities and not be held accountable for the systemic risks existing on their platforms.”

Digital civil rights group Access Now took particular issue with Pornhub’s numbers, calling its 33 million European user figure “unlikely” in the context of traffic analysis from SimilarWeb that suggests it averages over two billion visits a month.

The designation comes amidst increasing efforts to enforce stricter age verification for pornography sites globally. Several US states have attempted to age-gate the sites with varying levels of success. While within the EU, France and Germany have also pushed for regulations at the national level, the FT noted. The UK is also moving ahead with its own age verification measures after recently passing its Online Safety Act.

Although VLOPs have to comply with the DSA’s strictest regulations, today’s press release from the EU notes that “all online platforms and search engines” have to abide by a general set of DSA rules like offering a mechanism to notify them about illegal content on their service, and avoid targeting users with advertising based on profiling of sensitive data like ethnic origin or sexual orientation.

Multiple companies on the initial list of VLOPs have mounted legal challenges to try and get off it. Amazon has said it doesn’t believe it fits the description of a Very Large Online Platform and therefore shouldn’t be designated as such. German online retailer Zalando has also pushed back against its designation.

Since the Digital Services Act came into effect for the first batch of VLOPs in August, EU regulators have been keen to enforce the new rules. Formal requests for information have been sent to Meta and TikTok over their handling of illegal content and disinformation relating to the Israel-Hamas war, and has gone further and opened formal proceedings into X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to assess whether it may have breached the DSA.

33 COMMENTS33 NEW

 

[bnew]

Press corner

Highlights, press releases and speeches

ec.europa.eu

Commission designates second set of Very Large Online Platforms under the Digital Services Act​

Today, the Commission adopted a second set of designation decisions under the Digital Services Act, designating 3 Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs). These are:

• Pornhub
• Stripchat
• XVideos
  

The designation is the result of Commission investigations concluding that the three services fulfil the threshold of 45 million average monthly users in the EU.

Today's designations follow a first set of designation decisions of 19 Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines on 25 April 2023, of which the Commission published the non-confidential versions today.

General date of applicability of the DSA​

With the exception of small and microenterprises, all online platforms and search engines will need to comply with the general DSA obligations by 17 February 2024. Among other provisions, they will need to:

• Provide user-friendly mechanisms to allow users or entities to notify illegal content;
• Prioritise the treatment of notices submitted by so-called “trusted flaggers”;
• Provide statements of reasons to users when their content is restricted or removed;
• Provide an internal complaint-handling system for users to appeal content moderation decisions;
• Promptly inform law enforcement authorities if they become aware of any information giving rise to a suspicion that a criminal offence involving a threat to the life or safety of a person has taken place, is taking place or is likely to take place, including in the case of child sexual abuse;
• Redesign their systems to ensure a high level of privacy, security, and safety of minors;
• Ensure that their interfaces are not designed in a way that deceives or manipulates the users;
• Clearly label advertisement on their interfaces;
• Stop presenting targeted advertisement based on profiling of sensitive data (such as ethnic origin, political opinions or sexual orientation), or targeted at minors;
• Have clear terms and conditions and act in a diligent, objective and proportionate manner when applying them;
• Publish once a year transparency reports on their content moderation processes.
  

More stringent rules for designated VLOPs​

In addition to the general provisions in the DSA, within four months of their designation as VLOPs, Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat will also have to adopt specific measures to empower and protect users online, including minors, and duly assess and mitigate any systemic risks stemming from their services. These additional, specific obligations include:

More diligent content moderation:

• VLOPs need to analyse their specific systemic risks with regard to the dissemination of illegal content and of content threatening fundamental rights. Risk assessments reports will have to be provided to the Commission 4 months after the notification of the formal designation and made public at the latest a year later;
• VLOPs must put in place mitigation measures to address risks linked to the dissemination of illegal content online, such as child sexual abuse material, and content affecting fundamental rights, such as the right to human dignity and private life in case of non-consensual sharing of intimate material online or deepfake pornography. These measures can include adapting their terms and conditions, interfaces, moderation processes, or algorithms, among others;
• VLOPs must reinforce their internal processes, resources, testing, documentation, and supervision of any of their activities linked to the detection of systemic risks.
  

Strong protection of minors:

• VLOPs must design their services, including their interfaces, recommender systems, and terms and conditions, to address and prevent risks to the well-being of children. Mitigating measures to protect the rights of the child, and prevent minors from accessing pornographic content online, including with age verification tools;
• Risk assessment reports will have in particular to detail any negative effect on the protection of the mental and physical health of minors.
  

More transparency and accountability:

• VLOPs need to ensure that their risk assessments and their compliance with all the DSA obligations are externally and independently audited;
• VLOPs need to publish repositories of all the ads served on their interface;
• VLOPs will have to give access to publicly available data to researchers, including to vetted researchers designated by Digital Services Coordinators;
• VLOPs need to comply with additional transparency requirements, including the publication of transparency reports on content moderation decisions and risk management every six months, in addition to reports on their systemic risks and audit results once a year;
• VLOPs need to appoint a compliance function and be subject to an external independent audit every year.
  

Next Steps​

Following their designation as VLOPs, the Commission will be responsible for supervising Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos, in cooperation with the Digital Services Coordinators of the Member States of establishment.

The Commission services will carefully monitor the compliance with the DSA obligations by these platforms, especially concerning the measures to protect minors from harmful content and to address the dissemination of illegal content. The Commission services are ready to closely engage with the newly designated platforms to ensure these are properly addressed.

Background​

On 25 April 2023, the Commission designated the first 19 Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines. Starting from the end of August, these VLOPs and VLOSEs must comply with the additional obligations under the DSA. By 17 February 2024, all platforms, with the exception of small and microenterprises, will have to comply with the general obligations introduced by the DSA.

The supervision and enforcement of the DSA will be shared between the Commission and Digital Services Coordinators, which will be designated by Member States by 17 February 2024.

For More Information​

EU Official Journal text on the DSA

Q&A on the Digital Services Act

Guidance on the counting of user numbers

Very large online platforms and search engines under the DSA

Quote(s)​

I welcome the designations of Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat as Very Large Online Platforms. It will allow for higher scrutiny and accountability of their algorithms and processes. The DSA demonstrates once again that it is an essential tool to ensure that technology respects the fundamental rights of European citizens.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age - 19/12/2023

The criteria to determine if a platform is very large in the sense of the Digital Services Act are very straight forward: any online platform with more than 45 million users in the EU has special obligations because of its scale. We have already designated 19 Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines. We will continue to designate platforms that meet the thresholds and make sure that they comply with their obligations under the DSA. I have been very clear that creating a safer online environment for our children is an enforcement priority under the DSA.

Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market - 19/12/2023

 

[b_b]

The ease to which a minor could get on them.sites is brazy, ain't like you gotta really work at it like the early wild West www. Getting older and being a parent definitely got me rethinking mad shyt

 

[keond]

The ease to which a minor could get on them.sites is brazy, ain't like you gotta really work at it like the early wild West www. Getting older and being a parent definitely got me rethinking mad shyt

I had to be the black MacGuyver to get access to porn back when i was a kid. Now they can see any type of sick fetish with one touch. They do need to make it harder for kids to access it, plus im sure it probably tons of pedo shyt floating around unverified. Clean that shyt up

 

[Vandelay]

I had to be the black MacGuyver to get access to porn back when i was a kid. Now they can see any type of sick fetish with one touch. They do need to make it harder for kids to access it, plus im sure it probably tons of pedo shyt floating around unverified. Clean that shyt up

shyt is like drug dealers. The first one is free. Lifetime customers.

I was a porn connoisseur, but this shyt is too easy to access.

 

[bnew]

The ease to which a minor could get on them.sites is brazy, ain't like you gotta really work at it like the early wild West www. Getting older and being a parent definitely got me rethinking mad shyt

you didn't have to really work at back then either unless you wanted full-length videos and didn't know about p2p or leaked password sites. preview clips were all over place.

 

[BandOfGypsys]

People will joke and downplay how much something like this is needed. Children can get access to that shyt way to easily.

 

[OnlyOneBoss]

People will joke and downplay how much something like this is needed. Children can get access to that shyt way to easily.

Up until a couple years ago children could post on there TOO fukkIN EASILY


I remember in high school we had legit students making porn and posting it to xHamster and pornhub

 

[BrothaZay]

Cliffs

 

[Shadow King]

The ease to which a minor could get on them.sites is brazy, ain't like you gotta really work at it like the early wild West www. Getting older and being a parent definitely got me rethinking mad shyt

I had to be the black MacGuyver to get access to porn back when i was a kid. Now they can see any type of sick fetish with one touch. They do need to make it harder for kids to access it, plus im sure it probably tons of pedo shyt floating around unverified. Clean that shyt up

 

[JNew]

The days of the internet being the Wild West are far over but this might be the nail in the coffin.

 

[RaspberryFitted]

The days of the internet being the Wild West are far over but this might be the nail in the coffin.

Pornhub’s “amateur” section definitely needed to be nuked

Anybody could of uploaded

 

[↓R↑LYB]

you didn't have to really work at back then either unless you wanted full-length videos and didn't know about p2p or leaked password sites. preview clips were all over place.

When I was a kid if you wanted porn you had to sneak in your parents/uncle/older brothers stash. Or you had to get a fake ID and go to the store and buy a porno.

After the internet came the shyt became impossible to regulate. Even with a content blocker, kids will always find a loophole. Not to mention once they leave your house and get around other kids with smartphones it's a wrap.

 

[AStrangeName]

Up until a couple years ago children could post on there TOO fukkIN EASILY


I remember in high school we had legit students making porn and posting it to xHamster and pornhub

And that's how those two and XVideos got hemmed up because of that and other shyt because you didn't need to verify your account to upload any videos, until two years ago.

Pornhub’s “amateur” section definitely needed to be nuked

Anybody could of uploaded

They pretty much "nuked" the amateur section after they made it to where you have to verify your account to upload videos and pictures to prevent content being added.

 

[TELL ME YA CHEESIN FAM?]

@Low End Derrick tranny porn is going to miss you musty euro fakkit