‘LASTING SHOCK’

France Threatens to Block Pornhub, Other Sites Over Lax Age Checks

Regulators will seek a court order to block the sites this week if they don’t meet a Tuesday deadline to introduce stricter requirements.

French authorities have vowed to block five major porn sites this week unless measures are taken immediately to ensure users are over the age of 18. France’s Higher Audiovisual Council gave Pornhub, xHamster, XVideos, XNXX, and Tukif a Tuesday deadline for the new restrictions, after which it said it would seek a court order blocking access to the sites, The Times reports. Currently, the popular porn sites ask users only to mark a box indicating that they are adults, a rule authorities say can easily be bypassed. The council said the porn sites are effectively violating the law if they do not create more rigorous checks, such as verification of identity documents proving a user’s age. “Children faced by such content can suffer lasting shock at the very least,” the council said. The move by French authorities comes after Germany took similar measures against porn sites, making the two countries’ policies some of the harshest in the world.