The European Commission announced yesterday that it will apply to Pornhub, Stripchat and Therefore, they will be considered large online platforms (VLOPs).
This designation implies that these platforms must meet greater transparency requirements and, in particular, that they must establish and reinforce the necessary means to guarantee the protection of minors and prevent them from accessing pornographic content online, even implementing tools to verify the age of its users.
Furthermore, in accordance with the new community regulations, Pornhub, Stripchat and of videos or images of an intimate nature or deepfake pornography.
These strengthened rules will apply to the three porn platforms from the end of April, four months after their designation as VLOPs by the Commission, which now plays the role of digital police within the European Union.
Since last April, 19 other large platforms have already appeared on that VLOP list, such as X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Google or Facebook (Meta), whose activity will be especially monitored.
According to the Commission, all these websites must “adopt specific measures to empower and protect online users, including minors, and appropriately assess and mitigate any systemic risks arising from their services.”
And in the case of Pornhub, Stripchat and .
The digital commissioner, Thierry Breton, has assured in a statement that “creating a safer online environment for our children” was “a priority” in the application of the European Digital Services Law.
For her part, the executive vice president for a Europe adapted to the digital age, Margrethe Vestager, is convinced that the inclusion of Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat in the list of large online platforms will allow greater scrutiny and accountability of their algorithms and processes and "demonstrates once again that the DSA is an essential tool to ensure that technology respects the fundamental rights of European citizens."
Being on the list means putting these platforms under the direct supervision of the European Commission, which has sanctioning powers. Specifically, violators can be fined up to 6% of their global annual turnover, or even banned from operating in Europe in case of serious and repeated violations.
Among the obligations they must comply with is that the companies themselves analyze the specific risks related to the dissemination of illegal content or violations of fundamental rights and present a report to the Commission. In addition, they must provide access to their data to EU-approved researchers and undergo, at their own expense, an external audit once a year to verify that they comply with European standards.
Added to this is the obligation to act “promptly” to remove any illegal content as soon as the platform becomes aware of it, or the obligation to inform the judicial authorities when they suspect a “serious criminal offense”. Also included are prohibitions, such as the exploitation of “sensitive” user data (gender, political, religious affiliation, etc.) for targeted advertising and transparency obligations, such as the publication of the main parameters used by recommendation systems.
Precisely relying on the framework of this law, Brussels opened a formal investigation on Monday against the social network , Google, Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube or Amazon, reports AFP.
