The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos for suspected breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The Commission has preliminarily found that the four platforms have failed to put in place appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors, in particular with age verification tools to safeguard minors from adult content.

It also says they have failed to put in place risk assessment and mitigation measures of any negative effects on the rights of the child, the mental and physical well-being of users, and to prevent minors from accessing adult content, notably via appropriate age verification tools.

If proven, failure to comply with these requirements would constitute infringements of the DSA, the Commission says.

The Commission will now carry out an in-depth investigation as a matter of priority and will continue to gather evidence, which can include sending additional requests for information, conducting interviews or inspections. 

The opening of formal proceedings empowers the Commission to take further enforcement steps, such as adopting interim measures and non-compliance decisions. The Commission is also empowered to accept commitments made by Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos to remedy the issues raised in the proceedings.

Alongside the formal proceedings, the European Board for Digital Services, which brings together digital services coordinators from all EU member states, is also taking coordinated action against smaller pornographic platforms.

Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said: “The online space should be a safe environment for children to learn and connect. Our priority is to protect minors and allow them to navigate safely online.

“Together with the digital service coordinators in the member states we are determined to tackle any potential harm to young online users.”