Pornhub leaves the country

You may not sound the name of Aylo Freesites. It does not matter, because what will sound to you are the names of three platforms that are under their umbrella: Pornhub, Redtube and YouPorn. The three – and especially the first – are among the most visited porn content websites in the world. And the three They will stop being available in France.

What happened. Aylo freesites has the legal obligation to implement a solution to verify age on its platforms before June 7. Restriction is one of the key measures that the French government has imposed with an already known objective: protect minors and prevent them from accessing inappropriate content.

It’s my scattergories and I take it. The owners of the celebrated Pornhub have decided to refuse that imposition, and leaves France. It is an especially hard decision, especially considering that according to its own statistics for 2024France is the second most important country for its business, only behind the United States (the most important long) and in front of the Philippines, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

An “inefficient” regulation. In politician They cite the words of Solomon Friedman, partner of Ethical Capital Partners, owner in turn of Aylo. In a conference with the media he indicated that the French Law on Age Verification was “dangerous”, in addition to being “possibly an infringement of” and “inefficient” privacy. Until now France allowed Pornhub sites to appear a simple “Are you over 18 years old?” When you log in to the platform, but the new system is much more complex and delicate.

Double anonymity. For age verification It is necessary A document issued by the Government (identity card, passport). It is no longer useful to use a bank card. In addition to protecting that identity, the standard obliges porn sites to use external sites in which to perform this age verification.

The idea of ​​double anonymity. The principle of “double anonymity” theoretically allows porn sites to receive confirmation that everything is correct in addition to preventing them from knowing the identity of its users. The supplier of that service does know the user’s identity, but not the reason for the age verification or the sites that that user will visit.

What a solution Aylo raises. Instead of that process, he explains that he is totally in favor of age verification, defends another method. For them that process should be carried out directly on the device Used to visit those sites, not on websites. This solution would require working with Google and Apple so that with modifications to Android and iOS they were the ones who confirm that the device is being used by an adult or a minor. That, they indicate in Aylo “dramatically reduces the risks of privacy and data theft and creates a very simple process that regulators could promote.”

The EU also attacks the porn industry. In the European Union They started Recently an investigation against Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVIDEOS for suspecting that they had violated the DSA (Digital Services Act), since one of the objectives of these regulations is to protect minors from access to inappropriate content. All these platforms are considered Vlops (Vray Lark Online Platforms), have more than 45 million monthly users throughout Europe, and therefore have additional obligations. Age verification is one of the systems derived from these obligations. It remains to be seen what everything is left, but the threat is clear: a fine of up to 6% of the global annual billing.

Pajorto. The Government of Spain advertisement last year Beta digital portfolio creationpopularly known as “Pajorto“Although its implementation could be delayed until November 2026 (which is the maximum date to comply with the European regulations eidas2which forces member states to have digital identity systems), it was supposed to be ready by the end of this year. Interestingly, Cumlauder, a well -known Spanish website, He advanced to the “parsport” with a system based on or verification of DNI or through a selfie.

Spain, European model. The European Commission liked the idea of ​​’pajorto’ so much that now wants to create a European version based on the Spanish system. The idea is to validate the project and that the resulting age verification tools are interoperable among the Member States. The regulations gone2 —That forces states to have insurance digital identity systems before November 2026 – is the legal basis.

But privacy is at stake. The system, of course, is not exempt from criticism and continues to threaten the privacy of users. There is Technical alternatives possible, but also others that already exist such as making use of parental controls in minors. It is something that for example Allows Family Link application Google on Android devices.

Image | Franco Alva

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