- Arcom takes legal action and requests the blocking of YouPorn and RedTube
- The HeurePorno, FoliePorno and xHamsterLive sites are put on notice
- User age control is still at the heart of the problem
It looks like things are getting tough for free porn sites. The French authorities want to protect minors and require verification of the age of users of platforms offering content. But it turns out to be very complicated.
While the government announced the launch of the test phase of the age control to access X sites last March, the problem is still there. Not so long ago, Arcom pinned YouPorn and RedTube, two sites published by the company MG Freesites. In the absence of measures taken by the two sites pointed out, the regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication simply requests their blocking.
For their part, the HeurePorno, FoliePorno and xHamsterLive sites were entitled to warnings from Arcom this Tuesday, April 11, 2023. They have fifteen days to react and propose a solution, at the risk of seeing their sites also blocked.
Like other sites, these platforms fail to provide an effective solution to verify the age of their users. Thus, there is only a pop-up window which asks the Internet user to affirm that he is indeed over 18 years old. Everyone can, then, bypass this “verification” very easily.
Adieu, sites porno ?
Threats, Arcom has been making for months. But in reality, nothing really changes. For now, at least. Jean-Noël Barrot, the Minister Delegate in charge of the Digital Transition and Telecommunications, affirms that the government is currently developing a viable identity verification tool that respects the principle of double anonymity. The test is ongoing but in the meantime there is no real solution for porn sites.
Arcom has been threatening and attacking giants in the middle for several months. But so far, no “adult” site has been blocked. Indeed, asking for measures to be taken without a viable solution available is complicated. If the problem is indeed present, sites like the government seem to be tied hand and foot. Age verification via the blue card is envisaged, but again, nothing is certain.
With the seizure of justice in the hope of blocking sites that do not comply with the Arcom inquisitions, there may be change. The idea is to order the main Internet access providers to prevent access to the sites singled out.
