EU probes four porn platforms over risks to children

The European Union (EU), on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, launched an investigation into four pornographic platforms for allegedly failing to stop children accessing adult content.

The European Commission said its investigations into Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos “focus on the risks for the protection of minors, including those linked to the absence of effective age verification measures.”

The commission, the EU’s tech regulator, accused the platforms of not having “appropriate” age verification tools to prevent children from being exposed to porn.

The commission found the four platforms did not have “appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors”.

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They also did not have the measures in place to prevent negative effects on children as well as users’ mental and physical wellbeing, AFP quoted the commission as saying.

“Online platforms must ensure that the rights and best interests of children are central to the design and functioning of their services,” it added.

The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) forces the world’s biggest tech companies to do more to protect European users online and has strict rules to safeguard children and ensure their privacy and security.

Under the law, “very large” online platforms with at least 45 million monthly active users in the EU have even greater obligations, and they are regulated by the commission rather than national authorities.

The Star