French court blocks Xhamster and other porn sites over age verification shortcomings

The Paris Court of Appeal has ordered several adult websites, including Tukif and Xhamster, to be blocked for failing to implement robust age verification systems to prevent minors from accessing explicit content.

As reported by Politico, the court has given the sites 15 days to comply with the order or face an extended block. 

“Giving priority to the protection of the private lives of adult consumers, by ruling out age verification, is incompatible with the protection of minors,” the court said.

The decision came amid growing concerns about child safety online, aligning with recent European regulatory efforts.

The affected sites have not issued any public response to the court’s ruling.

The ruling follows other high-profile actions around child protection in tech. In August, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in France under a new cybercrime law, linked to a probe into child sexual abuse material. 

Moreover, the European Union has included some adult websites in the strictest governance framework, urging stronger age verification systems as part of its child safety agenda.

The French government has been pushing for stricter controls over online content access, with child protection being a key driver of recent interventions.

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