PARIS—Martin Ajdari, the president of the French digital regulator Arcom, stated in a speech to a public event on Thursday that his agency will significantly expand its enforcement of age verification under France's SREN law. The event was aptly called "Minors Online: What Risks, What Protections?"
Speaking to regulators, elected members of the French Parliament and industry leaders, Ajdari shared that his agency will expand significantly its enforcement against adult entertainment platforms, especially smaller ones. He said this enforcement could happen as early as in the coming months.
Ajdari also shared results from a study the regulator commissioned to "enable us to refine and strengthen our strategy, in a changing context marked by two events."
"In this way, we are rolling out a new ambition, both in France and at [the] European level," he explained to the event's audience.
"The initial successes achieved in terms of access to pornographic sites should encourage us to do more and better, alongside the Government, Parliament, and the European Commission. We also need to think about how to adapt our law to technological developments and circumvention strategies," he concluded.
By mentioning "circumvention strategies," Ajdari signals that Arcom will likely address the glaring shortcomings of age verification laws, such as the SREN law, including the fact that most legally mandated content blocks in a particular digital space can be easily bypassed by a virtual private network (VPN) or proxy.
France and major adult industry platforms have been locked in a legal battle over whether Arcom has the authority to enforce its SREN law on companies operating beyond French borders. One case involves the parent companies of adult tube sites XVideos and XNXX, which is still before the Court of Justice, pending a final determination on the scope of France's SREN law. The Advocate General of the European Union's Court of Justice issued a non-binding advisory opinion to the judges of the court, stating that France's SREN law can be enforced across national borders among member states of the bloc, provided the European Commission approves.
