After a long battle between the public authorities and the publishers of pornographic sites, the latter have the obligation from Saturday to verify the age of their users, with a threat of blocking for the recalcitrant.
To comply with this new rule, X sites must now require the sending of a photo or an identity document for example, by offering at least one method respecting the principle of “double anonymity” which allows you to prove your majority without disclosing your identity.
Without this, they are exposed to a sanction from Arcom, the digital policeman, who can, since the adoption in May of the so-called Sren law aimed at securing the internet, order a blocking by telecom operators and the dereferencing of incriminated sites.
But you shouldn’t expect black screens from Saturday: the procedure takes more than two months, from identifying the site to actually requesting a block.
The measure has been requested for a long time by child protection associations. Because 2.3 million minors visit pornographic sites in France, according to Arcom.
“The sites targeted are the most problematic, therefore those which are the best known and which have the largest audiences”says a source close to the matter.
Tolerance
A tolerance is granted until April 11 to sites which already offer identification using a bank card but they must then offer a solution to “double anonymity”.
Many start-ups – almost ten in France alone – are now in the running to equip sites with this new use: on the one hand, the user proves their majority by downloading an identity document from one application and, on the other, the website receives information on the visitor’s age, without knowing their identity.
The publication of the Arcom reference system gave “a real boost” to this still nascent market, explains to AFP Jacky Lamraoui, who heads the French start-up IDxLab.
In the solution « Anonymage » is already present on around twenty sites – all platforms for adults.
This is the case of the French Tukif, which adopted it after the Paris Court of Appeal ordered its blocking in October.
“The law is pretty good but the problem is the method used”regrets Jérôme, the site manager who does not wish to give his name. He claims to be the only one « tube » (free porn site) French that verifies age currently.
Drop in attendance
According to Arcom, 2.3 million minors visit pornographic sites in France / Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP
He denounces in particular the cost of these verification systems, “1 or 2 cents per visitor” for the cheapest, but also the dissuasive effect on users, who turn to unregulated platforms or content shared on social networks like X or Reddit, not subject to this legislation.
“Since November, less than 5% of users who enter the verification system come out verified”he laments. “It killed traffic to our site”.
Because this new measure currently only concerns sites based in France and outside the European Union.
Those established in another European country have a few months of respite, while a procedure is put in place which will see Arcom notify the countries concerned in the event of non-compliance with French law before blocking.
But ultimately, they will also have to comply.
Aylo, parent company of the pornographic sites Pornhub and Brazzers based in Cyprus, told AFP in December that it was “aware of the new rule and is committed to always respecting the law”while judging these measures “ineffective” et “dangerous” for the security and privacy of users.
Despite the arsenal deployed by Arcom, means of circumvention exist, either via the installation of a VPN – a virtual private network – or mirror sites, which identically replicate a page under a different domain name .
