PARIS—The French government should be permitted to enforce its age verification law on all porn platforms that are based in and/or operate from a European Union member state, a non-binding legal opinion says. Polish attorney Maciej Szpunar, Advocate General of the European Union's Court of Justice, issued Thursday's opinion.
Szpunar found that WebGroup Czech Republic and NKL Associates, the parent companies of adult tube sites XVideos and XNXX, could be legally obligated to adhere to France's SREN law for age verification to prevent minors from accessing age-restricted materials. WebGroup and NKL sued the French government, seeking to block the SREN law, arguing that it violates existing European Union digital safety regulations, child protection measures, and e-commerce regulations.
The guidance issued by Szpunar's office, which serves as a senior legal advisor to the judges of the Luxembourg-based European Union's highest court, is non-binding for judges to follow but is often adopted in part or in full when a final ruling is handed down, according to statements from the office. WebGroup and NKL responded after the French digital regulator Arcom was empowered by the country's parliament to enforce age verification regulations that were implemented in 2023.
At issue is how French regulations on age checks are clashing with the rights of the parent companies of the tube sites. This law includes the 2000 EU E-Commerce Directive that sets out basic rules for online services operating across the bloc's member states. The directive additionally introduced the concept of country of origin regulations, meaning that websites are only subject to the regulations of their local media regulator, not the rules of another country's policies.
Szpunar determined in his opinion that the age verification SREN law could apply to other EU-based platforms so long as Brussels, the capital of the bloc, is okay with it.
Note, Szpunar said that the court should rule that "the coordinated field defined by the directive encompasses the obligation on publishers of online communication services to implement technical arrangements designed to prevent minors from accessing pornographic content." Or in simple terms, the "coordinated field," or the regulated entities of the law, could be amended to support arrangements that prevent minors from seeing age-restricted content as a goal for the common good.
The case involving the parent companies of XVideos and XNXX is still before the Court of Justice, pending a final determination on the scope of France's SREN law.
