New twist in the case which opposes Arcom to pornographic sites, concerning the hardening of their access.
The Paris court agreed on Tuesday to transmit to the Court of Cassation a priority question of constitutionality (QPC) of the pornographic platform Pornhub, threatened with blocking by justice if it does not prevent access by minors to its content .
The platform, belonging to the global porn giant MindGeek, is one of five sites given formal notice by Arcom at the end of 2021 to introduce age control for their visitors.
Lack of reaction from the sites, Arcom then asked the president of the court to order their blocking by the operators.
In the judgment consulted by AFP, Pornhub considers that the procedure followed by Arcom does not comply with the constitutional principles of "legality of offenses and penalties" and "freedom of expression and communication", because the he offense with which he is charged is not defined “in sufficiently clear and precise terms”.
“No solution is satisfactory”
The law of July 30, 2020 provides that a simple declaration of majority to access pornographic sites is no longer sufficient and that an age verification is necessary, but without specifying the process.
"None of the technical solutions that we have tested have proven to be satisfactory," platform lawyer Elsa Rodrigues pleaded in early September, adding to wait for the "guidelines" announced in December by the regulator.
Read alsoWhy porn sites are still accessible to minors
The Court of Cassation now has three months to rule and decide whether or not to send the question to the Constitutional Council, which could then invalidate the disputed provisions.
"This is a new dead time in the procedure during which Arcom will do everything possible to reach a satisfactory mediation solution" in order to effectively protect minors, explained the lawyer for Arcom Nicolas Jouanin.
With this QPC, “it is not the copy of Arcom which is judged, it is that of the legislator”, he specified.
