The European Commission announced an investigation into four porn platforms—Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos—for compliance with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), according to Euractiv.
The investigation will reportedly focus on verifying whether there is effective protection for minors from accessing the porn platforms, particularly in relation to the lack of age verification systems.
All the platforms use click-away age verification on their entry pages, which we suspect are not compliant with the EU’s DSA.
The EU Commission also suggests that porn platforms may not currently comply with risk assessment and mitigation measures that protect the mental and physical well-being of children on these platforms. The investigation would be conducted “as a matter of priority,” the EU executive added.
Investigations against the platforms began after Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos were designated as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) in June and December 2024. However, in its latest announcement, the European Commission said that Cypriot pornography site Stripchat would no longer be considered a VLOP.
The Commission said it aimed to finalise the ambitious EU-wide age verification tool by the end of 2026.
