Brussels on Wednesday added three pornographic sites — Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos — to the list of very large online platforms subject to reinforced controls under the new digital services legislation (DSA).
Like X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Google or Facebook (Meta), these platforms, which each have more than 45 million active users in the EU, will be subject to stricter rules, to ensure in particular that they implement the necessary means for the protection of minors, announced the European Commission.
These reinforced rules will apply to the three pornographic sites from the end of April, four months after their designation by the Commission, which now plays the role of digital policeman within the European Union.
In total, after the 19 announced in April, Brussels will have designated 22 very large platforms, whose activity will be particularly scrutinized.
Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos will have to “adopt specific measures to empower and protect online users, including minors, and properly assess and mitigate any systemic risks arising from their services,” explained the Commission.
She stressed that she would be particularly vigilant on “measures aimed at protecting minors against harmful content and the fight against the dissemination of illicit content” such as violent or child pornography images.
Protect children
Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton stressed that “creating a safer online environment for our children” was “a priority” in the implementation of the DSA.
The designation of the three sites as “very large platforms” online will allow “a closer examination of their algorithms and their processes”, declared the vice-president of the Commission, Margrethe Vestager.
In a message posted on its website, the Pornhub platform claimed not to reach the threshold of 45 million users set by the EU, opening the door to a possible challenge to its designation. “As of July 31, 2023, Pornhub has 33 million monthly users in the European Union, on average over the last six months,” she said.
Considered to have “systemic importance” and “particular responsibilities” due to their size, the 22 large platforms are placed under the direct supervision of the European Commission which has sanctioning powers.
Violators of the rules can face fines of up to 6% of their global annual turnover, or even a ban from operating in Europe in the case of serious and repeated violations.
Among their new obligations, very large platforms must analyze the specific risks linked in particular to the dissemination of “illegal content” or “violating fundamental rights” and submit a report to the Commission.
Increased transparency
They are subject to increased transparency, with the obligation to provide access to their data to approved researchers.
They must also submit, at their own expense, to an external audit once a year to verify that they comply with European rules.
Furthermore, obligations will apply to all online platforms, regardless of their size, from February 17, 2024.
They include the obligation to act “promptly” to remove any illicit content as soon as the platform becomes aware of it, or the obligation to inform judicial authorities when they suspect a “serious criminal offense”.
The rules also include prohibitions, such as those on exploiting “sensitive” user data (gender, political leaning, religious affiliation, etc.) for targeted advertising and transparency obligations, such as the publication of the main parameters used by the systems. recommendation.
For the first time within the framework of the DSA, Brussels opened on Monday a “formal investigation” targeting the social network X for alleged breaches of European rules on content moderation and transparency.
Various preliminary investigations have also been opened in recent months on different subjects against Apple, Google, Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube or Amazon, again under the new legislation.