The French government, led by Emmanuel Macron, is moving to bypass the courts to compel five major adult websites to comply with a 2020 age verification law. This initiative involves empowering the online content regulator, ARCOM, to directly order the blocking and delisting of non-compliant sites.

Government Seeks Direct Enforcement

The center-right French government confirmed over the weekend its intention to circumvent judicial processes to enforce a 2020 age verification law against five prominent adult sites: Pornhub, Tukif, xHamster, XVideos, and Xnxx. According to a report published Monday by Le Monde, the Macron government is expressing frustration with legal challenges presented by lawyers for these platforms.

Last month, the five adult tube sites raised objections to the 2020 law, which permits France’s online content regulator, ARCOM, to seek a blocking order against "websites that fail to prevent minors from accessing online pornography." The lawyers requested the nullification of proceedings and a stay of the proposed block. The tribunal subsequently set a decision date of July 7.

The age verification mandate was incorporated into a domestic violence law in July 2020 during a sparsely attended session of the French Parliament. On Sunday, Minister Delegate for Digital Jean-Noël Barrot announced the government’s plan to empower ARCOM to order the blocking and delisting of adult sites that do not prevent minors from accessing their content, without requiring court intervention. Barrot stated to Agence-France Presse, “There is an urgent need to remove our children from the onslaught of porn images on the internet and uphold the law once and for all.”

Le Monde reports that this extra-judicial approach will be part of a new bill aimed at "secure and regulate the digital space." Barrot plans to present this bill to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, with expectations for its examination in the Senate over the summer and by the National Assembly "by the start of the school year." The bill will also grant ARCOM the authority to "stop the dissemination on the internet of media banned in the European Union."

Regulatory Framework and Penalties

ARCOM, the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority, published the final version of its standard for age verification systems for pornographic sites on October 11, 2024. These rules came into effect on January 11, 2025, with a transition period for platforms to implement suitable age verification solutions. This transitional period concludes on April 11.

From April 11, adult content sites must cease using temporary methods like bank card verification. They are required to use age checks that are effective, privacy-preserving, and data-minimizing, and must offer users at least one ‘double blind approach.’ Additionally, they must utilize an age verification provider that is legally and technically independent of any online platform hosting or providing pornographic content.

In cases of non-compliance, ARCOM may formally notify the service to comply. If non-compliance persists, the regulator can impose a financial penalty of up to 4% of the website’s global annual revenue. ARCOM also possesses the power to require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to non-compliant websites nationwide.

The standard mandates services or sites broadcasting pornographic content to adhere to strict technical requirements concerning the reliability of age checks and the protection of user privacy. This standard is part of a legislative process that began in 2020. Article 227-24 of the French Criminal Code, in effect since March 1, 1994, prohibits exposing minors to pornographic content. In 2020, this article was amended to specify that a simple age declaration is insufficient to prove an individual is not a minor. Law No. 2020-936, enacted in July of the same year to protect victims of domestic violence, introduced a special procedure allowing ARCOM to notify editors of pornographic sites to comply with the law and to request courts to order the blocking of non-compliant sites.

Industry Response and Activist Influence

Barrot indicated in February his commitment to achieving "the end of access to pornographic sites for our children" in 2023. The 2020 law requires adult companies to implement measures beyond a simple age declaration from internet users. It also empowers the president of ARCOM to request that the president of the judicial court order ISP providers to immediately block infringing sites across the country.

French tech journalist Marc Rees, reporting for Next INpact, notes that the tube sites’ constitutional challenge is based on the vagueness of the law’s drafting, which they argue violates the legal principle of "freedom of expression and communication." During the April 14 hearing, lawyers for the tube sites contended that compliance is impossible until ARCOM publishes clear guidelines, which the government has not yet done.

Conversely, complaining groups have actively opposed the issuance of clear content guidelines. These groups, including Movement of the Nest, Dare Feminism, and The Indignant Women, advocate against open platforms, such as Twitter and Reddit, hosting what they deem explicit material. Anti-porn activist Thomas Rohmer, founder of Digital Education Watch, informed Catholic news site La Croix last month that he urged ARCOM not to publish clear content guidelines, calling them "a trap in which these sites want to snare us" and vowing his group would "fight so that it does not take place."

Mike Stabile, Director of Communications for the Free Speech Coalition, tweeted on Monday that Barrot’s proposal to allow ARCOM to block adult sites without judicial oversight was "incredibly dangerous," adding that censorship regimes "start with porn, but it never ends with porn."

Key Facts

  • The French government aims to bypass courts to enforce a 2020 age verification law on five major adult sites.
  • Minister Delegate for Digital Jean-Noël Barrot announced plans to empower ARCOM to directly block and delist non-compliant sites.
  • A new bill, to be presented to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, will include this extra-judicial measure.
  • ARCOM’s new rules, effective April 11, require adult sites to use effective, privacy-preserving, and data-minimizing age verification, including at least one ‘double blind approach.’
  • Non-compliance can result in financial penalties up to 4% of global annual revenue and nationwide blocking by ISPs.
  • Lawyers for the adult sites argue the 2020 law is vague and violates freedom of expression, demanding clear guidelines from ARCOM.