The European Commission found that porn video platform Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) in failing to protect minors from accessing their services.
The findings are preliminary at the moment, and the websites have time to properly address and resolve the issue the Commission flagged as a breach of the DSA. The investigation began in May 2025, with the support of several national authorities across Cyprus and France.
The Commission also noted that the companies failed to identify and assess the risks diligently. Furthermore, according to the Commission, they failed to do so because they used the wrong methodology, focusing too much on what the Commission called “business-centric concerns” rather than on the social risks of exposing minors to sexually explicit content, even overlooking meetings with civil society organisations.
In addition, the companies are not implementing effective systems to prevent minors from accessing their services. All of them allow access by simply clicking on a confirmation button that states they are over 18. Some have additional systems, including page blurring, content warnings, and other labels, but all have been deemed insufficient. The Commission is requesting the implementation of proper privacy-preserving age verification measures.
“Children are accessing adult content at increasingly younger ages and these platforms must put in place robust, privacy-preserving and effective measures to keep minors off their services,” commented Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty and Security.
The companies will have time to examine the issue and write a response to the Commission’s preliminary findings. They can also already take measures to address the breaches. In case they refuse to address the issue, the Commission may ultimately fine the four for no more than 6% of their total worldwide annual turnover.
