PARIS—The Administrative Court of Paris temporarily suspended the French government's SREN age verification law on Monday because the judicial body believes that it would conflict with the basic enforcement functions of the transnational European Union (EU).
Euractiv reports that the court suspended Arcom, France's digital regulator, from enforcing age verification requirements on adult entertainment platforms that are based in other European Union member states. Hammy Media, the parent company of xHamster.com, and Aylo's European operations for Pornhub.com, are based in Cyprus.
Cyprus has been a member of the European Union membership bloc since 2004.
This is important to understand because EU law prevents one member of the bloc from regulating another company based elsewhere in the bloc without appropriate regulatory and legal obstacles being resolved by the European Commission and the pan-European courts.
Jean-Sébastien Mariez, a French technology lawyer and a founding partner in the Paris-based law firm Momentum Avocats, told Euractiv reporter Théophane Hartmann that they view the decision to be clear that the French government used an "incorrect" implementation of national and EU law.
Mariez explained, “This serious doubt stems from possible incorrect implementation by the French government regarding the procedure under the E-Commerce Directive."
According to the European Commission, the E-Commerce Directive was adopted to harmonize national regulations on transparency and information requirements for online service providers, commercial communications, electronic contracts, and other elements of self-regulation among the member states.
This harmony was bolstered by the Digital Services Act. All of this means that European authorities must ensure harmony in regulations across the board.
"The Court’s application of the country-of-origin principle could have serious consequences for France, ranging from striking down age verification provisions to overturning rules on sovereign cloud service regulation," warned Mariez via the Euractiv report.
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UPDATE (6:46 p.m. PDT):
A spokesperson for Aylo issued the following statement about the Administrative Court of Paris blocking the SREN age verification law:
"While important questions about the implementation of the law in France are being considered, we maintain that French citizens deserve regulation that will prevent children from accessing adult content and that can be effectively enforced. They also deserve that their privacy and sensitive data be protected. Again, we believe the current approach faces significant challenges in achieving these important goals.A path forward requires lawmakers to understand and address with a clear enforcement plan the fact that adult content exists on hundreds of thousands of platforms, not simply the 17 sites designated in the ministerial order. The court's decision to suspend the order, based on questions about compatibility with the EU's country-of-origin principle, provides an opportunity to reconsider more effective approaches while we await the Court of Justice of the European Union's final ruling.To make the internet safer for everyone, every phone, tablet, or computer should start as a kid-safe device. Only verified adults should be allowed to unlock access to age-inappropriate content. This is the core premise of device-based age verification, which we believe is the safest and most secure option. The technology to accomplish this exists today.What is required is the political and social will to make it happen on a global level. We are determined to be part of this solution and want to collaborate with government, civil society, and tech partners to arrive at an effective device-based age verification solution. While we continue to comply with regulations in our jurisdiction of establishment, we believe a harmonized approach across borders would better serve the shared goal of protecting minors."
