Biggest porn websites Black Out in France; complain to users: Your government suggests ...
Major adult websites
Pornhub
,
YouPorn
, and
RedTube
, owned by
Aylo
, have reportedly blocked access to their content in France in protest of new age verification requirements aimed at protecting minors from accessing pornography.
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French visitors attempting to access these platforms on Wednesday were greeted with a message denouncing the privacy risks posed by the government's mandate, which requires users to verify their age using sensitive personal information such as credit cards or ID documents.
According to a report by news agency AFP, the message on Pornhub, accompanied by an image of the bare-breasted Liberty from Eugène Delacroix's 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People, criticized the French law: 'Your government suggests checking your age every time you visit our site — that's crazy, right?' Aylo, formerly MindGeek, argued that the requirement to repeatedly provide personal data creates an 'unacceptable security risk' for users, citing potential vulnerabilities to hacks, leaks, or bad actors.
The company also claimed that the law pushes users toward unregulated sites that fail to moderate content for issues like performer age and consent.
What France's new law says on adult websites
France's new rules, part of a broader global trend, align with the EU's Digital Services Act, the UK's Online Safety Act, and similar laws in several U.S. states, all designed to restrict minors' access to inappropriate online content. The European Commission recently launched an investigation into Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos for alleged failures to protect minors.
France, which was Pornhub's second-largest market in 2024, requires adult platforms to offer a 'double-blind' third-party verification option to shield user data from the sites themselves, but Aylo dismissed this as ineffective.
Instead, Aylo proposed that governments mandate age verification at the device level through operating systems like Apple, Microsoft, or Google, which could provide an 'age signal' to grant or deny access without compromising user privacy.
The report quoted France's Digital Affairs Minister Clara Chappaz who responded firmly. He said, 'Let [Pornhub, YouPorn, and RedTube] go. They can come back the day they're ready to finally respect our rules.'
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