Access by persons under 18 to pornographic sites: Submission of a case before the court of Paris
In accordance with article 23 of the law of July 30, 2020 aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence, the French Superior Audiovisual Council, seized by three associations, issued formal notice on December 13, 2021 to the publishers of the "Pornhub", "Tukif", "Xhamster", "Xnxx" and "Xvideos" sites to comply with the legal obligation (article 227-24 of the penal code) to prevent access by persons under 18 to their audio and video content.
As the formal notices issued by the regulation authority have not yet been acted upon, the Chairman of Arcom has referred the matter to the President of the Paris Court of First Instance, asking him to order the main ISPs to prevent access to the sites in question.
If the courts ultimately decide to do so, the publishers' sites will no longer be accessible from French territory, or via addresses located there. Internet users attempting to browse these sites will then be automatically redirected to an information page explaining the reason for the blocking.
Where appropriate, the Chairman of Arcom may also refer the matter to the President of the Paris Court of Justice if he finds that the blocked sites are being made accessible from other addresses ("mirror sites") and that they remain accessible to persons under 18. He may also demand that the judge order the delisting of the sites by search engines and directories.
In addition, Arcom has today sent a request for observations to the publishers of the Youporn and Redtube sites, which may be followed by formal notices for non-compliance with the provisions of article 227-24 of the French penal code.
As it has long done for television and radio, the regulator is thus implementing the legislative schemes in force to protect youngsters from inappropriate content in the digital sphere.
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