PORNHUB, XVIDEOS AND STRIPCHAT JOIN LIST OF DIGITAL GIANTS
By Ane Barcos
The European Commission has announced this Tuesday, December 19, 2023, the second set of large online platforms that will have to comply with the obligations of the Digital Services Act by February 17, 2024. Following this decision, three pornography websites will have to adopt measures for more diligent content moderation, ensure the protection of minors and be more transparent.
The EU executive has included Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos in the list of very large online platforms (VLOPs) after conducting an investigation that concluded that the three services meet the threshold of 45 million average monthly users in the European Union (EU).
The Digital Services Act regulates the content that large platforms display to users online and states that with the exception of small and micro businesses, all online platforms and search engines must comply with the general DSA obligations by February 17, 2024.
In addition to the general rules established by the DSAs, VLOP-designated platforms will also be required to comply with more stringent standards to empower and protect users, including minors, and to properly assess and mitigate systemic risks arising from their services.
Thus, Brussels is requiring the three pornography platforms to implement more stringent content moderation to address the dissemination of illegal content and threats to fundamental rights. Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos will have to publicly report on risk assessments and take mitigation measures, adjusting terms, interfaces and algorithms.
To ensure the protection of minors, the Commission emphasizes that these platforms must design services that avoid risks to child welfare, with mitigation measures to protect children’s rights and prevent minors from accessing pornographic content online, with tools such as age verification. For greater assurance of protection, risk assessment reports should detail any negative effects on the physical and mental health of minors.
In addition, for greater transparency, VLOPs will be required to submit their risk assessments and DSA compliance to external, independent audits. The regulation also requires them to publish repositories of all announcements, grant access to public data to researchers, comply with additional transparency requirements, such as semi-annual reports on moderation and risk management decisions, as well as annual reports on systemic risks.
This news was originally published in Aquí Europa.
