Pornhub blocks access in France to protest age restrictions – DW – 06/04/2025
Pornhub, Redtube and Youporn were scheduled to be suspended in France on Wednesday onwards, according to parent company Aylo.
Instead of porn, the company will only display a statement on France's new regulations that require porn sites to verify that their users are 18 or older, a Pornhub spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Alyo's sites, like other porn sites available in France, has until June 7, 2025, to implement a rigorous new age verification standard.
It's part of a French government push to shield minors from inappropriate content.
France's Deputy Minister for Digital Technology Clara Chappaz defended the government's move late on Tuesday.
"We're not stigmatizing adults who want to consume this content, but we mustn't do so at the expense of protecting our children," she told France's Europe1 TV.
The sites aren't protecting children, so it is now the government's responsibility, she said.
What is Aylo's issue with the age-verification law?
Currently, users to explicit sites can click a a box declaring they are over 18, but their age isn't actually verified.
France's new standard requires explicit websites to verify a user's age using a credit card or a government-issued ID document.
And to protect users' identities, the standard requires porn sites to use an external site for this age verification.
Using a principle known as double anonymity, the porn sites will then only receive confirmation that the person is of legal age and will not know their identity. The external service provider will know the identity of the user but not the reason for the age check or the sites the user visits.
Alyo has said that it is in favor of age verification but says it should be done on the devices used rather than on the websites visited.
The porn industry giant has called the French government's measure potentially privacy infringing and ineffective.
In a post on X on Tuesday, deputy minister Chappaz said the standard, with its double anonymity, guaranteed privacy.
"It's unacceptable to lie when you don't want to respect the law," she posted. "If Aylo would rather leave France than apply our law, they are free to do so."
How many minors watch porn in France?
Users in France account for Pornhub's second largest audience after the United States, according to Pornhub's own statistics for 2024.
And, says France's digital and audiovisual communication regulator Arcom, some 2.3 million minors access porn websites every month in the country.
That's 12% of France's total number of porn users.
Adult content platforms have come under fire elsewhere in the European Union.
EU regulators said last month that they would investigate several porn sites, including Pornhub, for failing to comply with rules to protect children.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
5 hours ago
- DW
ChatEurope: First chatbot dedicated to European news
Launched today by 15 partners including a dozen leading European media organizations, this unique news platform integrates a chatbot able to answer your questions about European news in all EU languages. Where have rents increased the most in Europe? Who won the presidential election in Poland? What does the European rearmament plan entail? ... Everything you want to know about Europe, ask #ChatEurope and get the facts! The chatbot operates in all EU languages. Its purpose is very simple: to help you better understand Europe, the way it works, how decisions are made and how these decisions impact your life. Led by Agence France-Presse, the media consortium behind this platform brings together prominent names in European journalism: the German and French broadcasters Deutsche Welle and France Médias Monde; the Romanian radio RFI Romania; the German and Italian news agencies dpa and Ansa; the Polish press group Agora; the Spanish non-profit foundation fighting against disinformation the Spanish daily El Pais, and the online media outlet specialized in Southeast Europe OBCT. At the heart of this innovative project, the ChatEurope chatbot was developed by the Romanian company DRUID AI and operates using the language model of the French company Mistral. As the technical partner of the project, Xwiki developed the news platform. Dpa and AFP subsidiaries, news aktuell and MediaConnect, are in charge of the communication. ChatEurope formulates its answers solely based on the thousands of articles provided by consortium members and always cites its sources, offering its users a guarantee of reliability amid widespread disinformation on social media. In a rapidly evolving media landscape, it also promises users a fully personalized experience, navigating the content offering based on their questions. Breaking news, analyses, explanatory formats to better understand Europe, articles on the national implications of European policies, vertical videos on social media and even documentaries, ChatEurope is aimed at all European citizens, regardless of their origin or age. The platform was launched in seven languages: French, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Romanian, and Polish, but its chatbot is able to answer in all EU languages. ChatEurope is co-funded by the European Commission and enjoys complete editorial independence, a key to its credibility. Guido Baumhauer, DW Managing Director Distribution, Marketing and Technology: "Our involvement in ChatEurope allows us to explore the potential of AI to transform news consumption while maintaining journalistic integrity. We are contributing Deutsche Welle's Plain X technology for seamless video translation and transcription, and we play a key role in evaluating the chatbot developed by DRUID to ensure it provides trustworthy, well-founded answers to users' questions. This project is an important experiment in creating interactive, reliable digital reporting on EU affairs." ChatEurope partners: Agence France Press (AFP) / France Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) / Italy Agora Mediengruppe / Poland Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) / Germany Deutsche Welle (DW) / Germany DRUID AI / Romania El Pais / Spain France Médias Monde / France / Spain MediaConnect (AFP) / France news aktuell (dpa) / Germany Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT) / Italy RFI Romania / Romania XWIKI SAS / France XWIKI SOFTWARE / Romania ChatEurope on Instagram ChatEurope on LinkedIn
Int'l Business Times
14 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Clashes In Istanbul Over Alleged 'Prophet Mohammed' Cartoon
Clashes erupted in Istanbul Monday with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas to break up an angry mob after allegations that a satirical magazine had published a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed, an AFP correspondent said. The incident occurred after Istanbul's chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of the editors at LeMan magazine on grounds it had published a cartoon which "publicly insulted religious values". "The chief public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the publication of a cartoon in the June 26, 2025 issue of LeMan magazine that publicly insults religious values, and arrest warrants have been issued for those involved," the prosectors office said. A copy of the black-and-white image posted on social media showed two characters hovering in the skies over a city under bombardment. "Salam aleikum, I'm Mohammed," says one shaking hands with the other who replies, "Aleikum salam, I'm Musa." But the magazine's editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun told AFP by phone from Paris that the image had been misinterpreted and was "not a caricature of Prophet Mohammed". "In this work, the name of a Muslim who was killed in the bombardments of Israel is fictionalised as Mohammed. More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are named Mohammed," he said, saying it had "nothing to do with Prophet Mohammed. "We would never take such a risk." As the news broke, several dozen angry protesters attacked a bar often frequented by LeMan staffers in downtown Istanbul, provoking angry scuffles with police, an AFP correspondent said. The scuffles quickly degenerated into clashes involving between 250 to 300 people, the correspondent said. In several posts on X, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said police had arrested the cartoonist responsible for "this vile drawing", the magazine's editor-in-chief and its graphic designer. Police had also taken over the magazine's offices on Istiklal Avenue and arrest warrants had been issued for several other of the magazine's executives, presidential press aide Fahrettin Altin wrote on X. In a string of posts on X, LeMan defended the cartoon and said it had been deliberately misinterpreted to cause a provocation. "The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, he never intended to belittle religious values," it said. Akgun said the legal attack on the magazine, a satirical bastion of opposition which was founded in 1991, was "incredibly shocking but not very surprising". "This is an act of annihilation. Ministers are involved in the whole business, a cartoon is distorted," he said. "Drawing similarities with Charlie Hebdo is very intentional and very worrying," he said of the French satirical magazine whose offices were stormed by Islamist gunmen in 2015. The attack, which killed 12 people, occurred after it published caricatures lampooning the Prophet Mohammed. "There is a game here, as if we were repeating something similar. This is a very systematic provocation and attack," Akgun said. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc an investigation had been opened on grounds of "publicly insulting religious values". "Disrespect towards our beliefs is never acceptable," he wrote on X. "No freedom grants the right to make the sacred values of a belief the subject of ugly humour. The caricature or any form of visual representation of our Prophet not only harms our religious values but also damages societal peace." Istanbul governor Davut Gul also lashed out at "this mentality that seeks to provoke society by attacking our sacred values. "We will not remain silent in the face of any vile act targeting our nation's faith," he warned. Clashes erupted in Istanbul with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas to break up an angry mob AFP Islamist protesters pray as they gather to protest near Leman Magazine in Istanbul AFP The incident occurred after Istanbul's chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of the editors at LeMan magazine on grounds it had published a cartoon which "publicly insulted religious values" AFP
Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Int'l Business Times
China's Top Diplomat Visits Europe Pitching Closer Ties In 'Volatile' World
China's top diplomat heads to Europe on Monday for a visit which Beijing said will highlight ties as an "anchor of stability" in a world in turmoil. Wang Yi's tour will take him to the European Union's headquarters in Brussels as well as France and Germany as China seeks to improve relations with the bloc as a counterweight to superpower rival the United States. But deep frictions remain over the economy -- including a yawning trade deficit of $357.1 billion between China and the EU -- and Beijing's close ties with Russia despite Moscow's war in Ukraine. "The world is undergoing an accelerated evolution of a century-old change, with unilateralism, protectionism and bullying behaviour becoming rampant," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Friday -- a thinly veiled swipe against the United States under President Donald Trump. In that context, Guo said, Beijing and the European bloc must "keep the world peaceful and stable, safeguard multilateralism, free trade, international rules, fairness and justice, and act firmly as anchors of stability and constructive forces in a volatile world". Wang will meet with his EU counterpart, Kaja Kallas, at the bloc's headquarters in Brussels for "high-level strategic dialogue". In Germany, he will hold talks with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on diplomacy and security -- his first visit since Berlin's new conservative-led government took power in May. And in France, Wang will meet minister for Europe and foreign affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, who visited China in March. The war in Ukraine will likely be high on the agenda, with European leaders having been forthright in condemning what they say is Beijing's backing for Moscow. China has portrayed itself as a neutral party in Russia's more than three-year war with Ukraine. But Western governments say Beijing's close ties have given Moscow crucial economic and diplomatic support, and they have urged China to do more to press Russia to end the war. Ties between Europe and China have also strained in recent years as the EU seeks to get tougher on what it says are unfair economic practices by Beijing. After the European bloc placed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, China retaliated with its own duties, including on French cognac. An agreement on cognac has been reached with Beijing but not formally approved by the Chinese commerce ministry, a source in the French economy ministry told AFP. The source said finalization was partially linked with the EU's ongoing negotiations over EVs. Tensions flared this month after the EU banned Chinese firms from government medical device purchases worth more than five million euros ($5.8 million), in retaliation for limits Beijing places on access to its own market. The latest salvo in trade tensions between the 27-nation bloc and China covered a wide range of healthcare supplies, from surgical masks to X-ray machines, that represent a market worth 150 billion euros in the EU. In response, China accused the European Union of "double standards". Another sticking point has been rare earths. Beijing has since April required licences to export these strategic materials from China, which accounts for almost two-thirds of rare earth mining production and 92 percent of global refined output, according to the International Energy Agency. The metals are used in a wide variety of products, including electric car batteries, and there has been criticism from industries about the way China's licences have been issued. China has proposed establishing a "green channel" to ease the export of rare earths to the EU, its commerce ministry said this month.
