"Porn site 'strike' in France against age verification law
Management company Aylo: rule 'irresponsible, disproportionate and ineffective'. The Minister for Equal Opportunities: if they leave, so much the better
2' min read
2' min read
Some of the major pornographic sites on the web, including Pornhub, YouPorn and Redtube, announced today that they would cease operations in France in protest against the French law on age verification of users. The parent company of the sites in question, Aylo, said today that the activity of disseminating pornographic content will end today at midnight in France and that in place of the platforms' content the French will find from tomorrow the image of a 'Marianne', symbol of the French Republic, with the inscription 'Freedom has no off buttons'.
Aylo calls 'irresponsible, disproportionate and ineffective' French legislation on age verification of website users. Pornhub, the group's main platform with 7 million daily visitors, together with its other components, hopes to 'initiate a direct dialogue' with French users, but also to convince other governments of the validity of its position on age verification. With its unilateral decision, Aylo, which belongs to the Ethical Capital Partners group, intends to react to the French legislation that obliges platforms to verify the age of users at every connection.
The management company: 'Undue invasion of privacy'. The response of the Minister for Equal Opportunities
.Aylo considers third-party age verification an 'invasion of privacy' deemed 'dangerous' in terms of confidentiality, opening the door to online data thieves, insisted Alex Kekesi, community and brand director at Aylo.
"If the platforms "refuse to comply with our legal framework and decide to leave. So much the better!" reacted Aurore Bergé, Minister for Equal Opportunities, on X. "There will be less violent, degrading and humiliating content accessible to minors in France. Goodbye."
Pornhub and other sites are, moreover, in the crosshairs of an investigation by the European Commission, which accuses them of failing to take sufficient measures to verify the age of users, resulting in minors being banned from accessing its content.
