Pornographic sites: France takes a measure to protect minors

The objective of making it more difficult for minors to access pornography is widely shared.

IFrance is going to impose an age certification system in order to block access to pornographic websites for minors, the Minister Delegate for Digital Affairs announced on Sunday in Le Parisien.

“In 2023, it is the end of access to pornographic sites for our children”, declared this member of the government, Jean-Noël Barrot, to the daily newspaper.

The details of this device must be presented within the week, for an implementation “as of September”, according to the newspaper.

All internet sites for adults “must comply with it or risk seeing its distribution prohibited on national territory”, indicated the minister delegate. According to him, “France will be the first country in the world to propose a solution like this”.

The age certification must go through a “digital certificate” whose technical details are not yet finalized. The goal will be to preserve the anonymity of the Internet user from the point of view of websites.

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“Telecom operators, who have the age of their customers, could for example be in the loop”, advances Le Parisien.

“This technical solution we are working on can be used to enforce the age limits that exist in our law, but which are not sufficiently respected online,” said Barrot.

Currently, pornographic sites ask the Internet user to certify his age by entering a date of birth, or even more simply by pressing a box to say “I am an adult”.

The United Kingdom is also trying to better filter this access, with its online security bill, under discussion in Parliament. The government wants to make it mandatory for websites to have reliable age verification technology in place.

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In Louisiana, a state in the southern United States, a law since January 1 requires the presentation of a copy of an identity document before being able to enter websites with at least one third of their content which is “harmful to minors”.