"Good riddance," some would say. "Mostly not," others will think. Faced with the risk of blocking pornographic sites in France if they do not control the age of Internet users, the global giant of the sector Mindgeek does not rule out making its video platforms inaccessible in the country.
The Canadian fund Ethical Capital Partners (ECP) bought in March the group of "entertainment for adults", which owns YouPorn and Pornhub, and must therefore face the threat of the French justice to block its sites on July 7. Seized by associations, Arcom has put 15 sites on notice to establish a real age control, and has seized the French justice to obtain the blocking of seven of them, including Pornhub. The Paris judicial court is due to rule on this case on July 7. The Penal Code prohibits exposing minors to pornographic photos and videos and the law on domestic violence of 30 July 2020 specifies that the companies concerned cannot absolve themselves of their responsibilities by simply asking an Internet user if he is of age. However, nearly a third of minors using the Internet continue to consult at least one porn site each month, according to a recent study by Médiamétrie.
"In all jurisdictions where we operate, we respect the law," lawyer Solomon Friedman, a partner and spokesman for the fund, told AFP, whose profile is surprising: he was ordained a rabbi in Israel in 2005. His group is facing, especially in the United States, an outcry. Louisiana is the first U.S. state to require proof of age to access porn sites from within its territory. At issue is the "public health crisis" caused by the consumption of pornography by minors. Mindgeek and Ethical Partners have submitted to Louisiana's "digital wallet" requirements. In the aftermath, 13 other states, including California (Democrat), Utah and Texas (Republican), introduced similar bills. This is also the direction taken by France and Great Britain. But in Utah, legislation requires adult sites to verify the identity of Internet users themselves, and Solomon Friedman's company has refused to comply, cutting off access altogether. "As a result, the use of VPNs (software to change the origin of his connection, editor's note) has exploded," says Friedman, who does not wish to "speculate" on what will be his decision in France.
Controlling the identity of Internet users on smartphones?
To protect minors, the only "effective" solution, according to him, is an identity verification directly on smartphones, "which could be implemented tomorrow" if the industry, phone manufacturers and regulators agree.
He also says he is ready to meet the French Minister Delegate for Digital, Jean-Noël Barrot, who has proposed a bill to strengthen the blocking powers of the digital regulator and is impatiently waiting for the decision of July 7 to possibly set a precedent. "The numbers are terrifying in their magnitude, their progression and the youth of the children. This confirms the need to act to prevent the situation from worsening, "said the minister at the end of May, after the publication of the study on the consumption of minors.
Ottawa-based ECP in March bought 100% of Mindgeek, a porn empire founded in 2004 that sought to sell itself after the publication in late 2020 of a New York Times investigation highlighting the presence on its platforms of rape, pedophilia and abusive pornography. The payment systems Visa and Mastercard, which have cut their service to the advertising agency of Mindgeek, fearing to be associated by the american justice to the actions of the group. Solomon Friedman bought the company with, rumoredly, his daughter just of age, another lawyer, a former police officer, an expert in crisis communication and an Italian investor who made his fortune in the legal sale of cannabis. Other investors remain discreet.
Friedman is the main associate to speak in the press. It claims that eight million videos have been removed from the platform and that all content is subject to moderation by algorithms and employees in Cyprus; At the slightest request for deletion, the videos would no longer be visible, the time to check. Pornhub claims 130 million daily users.
"We are long-term investors, we are moving towards a normalization of this industry as happened for cannabis, which has become a boring business," he told AFP. You will gradually see the type and quality of advertisers evolve, and it will become commonplace."