Three online pornography giants are challenging a series of obligations, including transparency, arising from a European Commission decision before the European Union (EU) court, it has been revealed. Politico Thursday March 7.
Aylo and Technius, parent companies of Pornhub and Stripchat respectively, are refusing their designation, announced in December 2023, as very large online platforms. This term corresponds to a list of major Web players who are subject, within the framework of the Digital Services Act (DSA), to significant controls and additional obligations with regard to European texts.
For example, the DSA requires very large platforms to set up an advertising library, publicly accessible and referencing the advertisers and advertisements broadcast on their sites. This text also requires the companies concerned to publish detailed data on the resources allocated to moderation, including the number of people employed for these purposes, as well as the official EU languages covered by the moderation teams.
War of Metrics
The battle between the leaders of the online pornographic industry and the European Commission is, among other things, a matter of numbers. To be designated as such, very large online platforms must have at least 45 million monthly users in the EU. Pornhub and Stripchat dispute the Commission’s estimates and claim to have lower visitor numbers.
In a press release sent to the newspaper The MondeAylo argues that his own figures for Pornhub amount to 32 million “active recipients” (the terminology used by the DSA) per month in the EU. “The Commission designated Pornhub as a very large online platform despite the comprehensive data and methodological explanations we provided to support our figures”supports the company.
Alongside Aylo and Technium, the company Xvideos is the third player to have launched a legal battle against the EU. Published by a Czech holding company founded by two French people, the site does not dispute the EU figures. On the other hand, according to the media Context et Politico, he filed appeals against the advertising transparency obligation imposed by the DSA. Aylo also filed an appeal to this effect, ruling that this obligation “illegal”.
The status of a very large platform could become a real headache for the leaders of online pornography. Because the DSA asks them to take a certain number of measures aimed at protecting minors: the press release from the European Commission, in December 2023, mentioned preventing young people from accessing pornographic content, “including with age verification tools”. A point all the more sensitive since in France, the parent companies of the sites concerned have been engaged for several years in a fierce battle in court to contest the obligation to implement age verification methods upon entry. .