Despite the Digital Services Act (DSA) being approved several years ago, the changes are such that they had to give online platforms operating in the territory of the European Union (EU) time to prepare.
This time has already passed, and therefore since mid-February the DSA has come into force, although depending on the type of app or service, its implementation may have been delayed somewhat. But little by little all online platforms have had to comply with this new regulation that aims to make the online environment safer, fairer, and more transparent.
Among the most notable cases is WhatsApp’s opening, which is in the process of becoming interoperable, meaning allowing users of the Meta app to receive messages from other third-party applications such as Telegram or Signal.
But as we were saying, the DSA affects all websites, and pornographic sites are no exception. Therefore, starting this week, online pornography platforms Pornhub, Stripchat, and XVideos must comply with the new and strict control regulations imposed on them by the EU.
With the aim of preventing abusive practices by larger companies on the network, these websites will have to submit risk assessment reports to the European Commission, implement mitigation measures against systemic risks associated with their services, and comply with additional transparency obligations.
More specifically, these websites must strengthen control over ads, allow access to data by researchers, verify the user’s age, and take measures to remove illegal content among other actions.
In December, the EU informed these three platforms that they were being considered “very large platforms” because they exceed the threshold of at least 45 million average monthly users in the European Union, so they had a four-month period (which is now ending) to adapt to the new European standards.
This new framework has been applied to the three platforms as of today, so you may notice changes on these platforms if you access them in the coming days.
