Adult websites Pornhub, Youporn take on France over age verification law. Details here

Pornhub and Youporn are set to greet French visitors to the adult websites with a message denouncing the country's age verification requirements, parent company Aylo stated. Paris has this year gradually introduced requirements for all adult websites to have users confirm their age with details like a credit card or ID document. In a bid to preserve privacy, operators must offer a third-party "double-blind" option that would keep the platforms themselves from seeing users' identifying information.

Aylo claimed that this is an ineffective mechanism that puts people's data at risk from bad actors, hacks or leaks. They say countries should target developers of operating systems like Microsoft's Windows, Apple's iOS or Google's Android, rather than porn platforms.

By showing the message rather than Pornhub's vast library of adult content, Aylo "is communicating directly with the French people to tell them how dangerous, how potentially privacy-infringing, and how ineffective the French law is," Solomon Friedman of Aylo's owner, Ethical Capital Partners, told reporters in a video call on Tuesday.


"Google, Apple and Microsoft all have the capability built into their operating system to verify the age of the user at the operating system or device level," ECP's Friedman said.

Their ability "to supply an age signal to any site or app... can actually provide a solution" for controlling access to adult content without requiring users to share sensitive data with multiple websites, he argued.

"I understand that those three entities are large and they're powerful, but that is not an excuse for France to do what they have done."

Aylo's message to would-be porn viewers will be topped with the image of "Liberty leading the people" from Eugene Delacroix's renowned bare-breasted painting of the allegorical figure.

Culture Minister Aurore Berge wrote on X Tuesday that it was "so much the better" if Pornhub and other Aylo properties cut off access for French users rather than "conforming to our legal framework".

"There will be less violent, degrading and humiliating content accessible to minors in France," she added.

FAQs

Q1. Which are two adult websites?
A1. Two adult websites are Pornhub and Youporn.

Q2. Who runs Pornhub and Youporn?
A2. Parent company Aylo runs Pornhub and Youporn.