EU Commission wants porn transparency: strict requirements for XNXX

The EU Commission classifies pornography provider XNXX as a very large online platform (VLOP) under the meaning of the Digital Services Act (DSA). This means that special duties of care apply. VLOPs are services that reach more than ten percent of the EU population on average, or more than 45 million citizens across member states. The Commission says XNXX has reported figures above this threshold. This means that the porn provider has until mid-November to comply with the DSA’s strict rules, otherwise they will face fines of up to six percent of global annual sales.

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Operators of very large platforms must carry out risk assessments and mitigate identified threats, for example to democracy, public safety, fundamental rights and the protection of minors. For VLOPs, this means in particular preventing minors from accessing pornographic online content, for example with age verification tools. VLOPs must also share their data and information on algorithms with authorities, researchers and civil society organisations so they can review their functioning and contribute information to status reports. Publishing ad collections is also required.

overall The Commission has so far designated 25 platforms as VLOPs. This includes three other erotic portals: Pornhub, Stripchat and Xvideos. In March, all three announced legal action against the new commitments. Pornhub owner Aylo justified this by saying that the commission had miscalculated the number of users; above all, Aylo does not want to run advertising collections.

In June, the EU Commission nevertheless requested additional information from the three sex platforms on the protection of minors and actions against illegal content. According to the Financial Times, XNXX and Xvideos have the same owner, Prague-based WGCZ Holding. As of February 17, all online platforms must comply with common DSA rules, including user-friendly mechanisms for reporting illegal content, clear advertising labeling, and annual transparency reports.

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