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Pornhub, Stripchat, XVideos to face EU's tough new regulation
These businesses are the second group of companies to get the VLOP designation. The first 19 tech behemoths, including Google, Facebook, and YouTube, were informed in April that the new regulations applied to them
Ajeyo Basu December 20, 2023 20:01:54 IST
The pornographic websites have four months to make sure they comply with several legal requirements Image Courtesy AFP
The European Union is going to impose more stringent regulations on three of the largest pornographic websites worldwide.
Pornhub, Xvideos, and Stripchat will be required by law to strengthen user age verification and enhance content management.
It’s because their monthly user base in EU countries has been estimated to reach at least 45 million.
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This means that in terms of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), they are classified as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs).
The pornographic websites have four months to make sure they comply with several legal requirements which include implementing more efforts to stop the spread of illicit content, such as deepfake pornography and videos of child sexual abuse, implementing more robust safeguards to prevent minors from using their websites, such as age verification mechanisms making sure that their risk assessments and adherence to all DSA requirements are inspected by an external, impartial party.
Ensuring that the locations comply with the new, stricter regulations would fall within the purview of the EU Commission is also part of the legal requirements. If they don’t comply, it can fine them up to 6% of their worldwide turnover.
These businesses are the second group of companies to get the VLOP designation. The first 19 tech behemoths, including Google, Facebook, and YouTube, were informed in April that the new regulations applied to them.
The DSA went into force in August for those companies in the first round.
In the first enforcement action brought under the law, one of them, X (previously Twitter), was notified on Monday that the EU accused it of violating its duty under the DSA to combat disinformation.