Following a decision by the judge of the Paris administrative court, the Conseil d'État has rejected the application to suspend the obligation to verify the age of users imposed on certain pornographic content distribution services based in other European Union Member States, on the grounds of lack of urgency. The company applying for suspension failed to demonstrate that this measure would have a serious and immediate impact on its economic situation. Furthermore, the system imposed does not constitute a ban on the distribution of pornographic content to adults. Lastly, it is likely to contribute to the goal of protecting minors, as intended by the law of 21 May 2024.
To protect minors from exposure to pornographic content, the law of 21 May 2024, aimed at improving security for and regulating the digital domain, required certain services broadcasting this type of content to implement systems for verifying user age in compliance with a reference framework determined by the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication (Arcom). In an order dated 26 February 2025, the Minister for Culture and the Minister Delegate for Digital Affairs made this mandate applicable to certain service providers operating in other Member States of the European Union.
At the request of one of these service providers, Hammy Media Ltd (the 'xhamster' website), the inter-ministerial order was suspended by order of the urgent applications judge of the Paris Administrative Court. The court ruled that the two conditions laid down by law for such a suspension, namely urgency and the existence of serious doubts as to legality, had been met. The Conseil d'État, to which the Minister of Culture and the Minister Delegate for Digital Affairs referred their application, today overturned this order on the grounds of an error in legal reasoning and rejected the application for suspension on the grounds of lack of urgency.
The Conseil d'Etat found that the company has failed to provide any evidence to show that the application of the contested order would seriously affect its economic situation. It also noted that the order does not prohibit the distribution of pornographic content to adults, but only requires effective age verification systems to be implemented within the framework of the guarantees provided by law. There is, therefore, no infringement of freedom of expression or privacy.
Lastly, in weighing the various interests in play, the Conseil d'État took into consideration the public interest in protecting minors from exposure to pornographic content and deemed that the system was likely to contribute to achieving this goal.
Finding that there was no urgency, the Conseil d'État rejected the request to suspend the order of 26 February 2025 without having to rule on either its legality or the priority question of constitutionality raised against the law by the plaintiff.
Read the decision (in French)