Pornhub, RedTube and other major porn websites back online in France: Why were they banned and what has changed

Leading adult websites

Pornhub

, YouPorn and

RedTube

are once again accessible in France as a French court temporarily suspended a government decree that would have required EU-based pornographic platforms to implement stringent

age verification

measures. France had been rolling out new regulations this year, mandating that all adult websites verify users' ages through methods like credit card details or ID documents. The primary goal of these measures was to prevent minors from accessing explicit content.However, the Paris administrative tribunal on Monday put the government decree on hold, pending an investigation into its compatibility with broader European Union legislation, news agency AFP reported. It is to be noted that the French government has already signaled its intent to appeal this decision to the Council of State, the country's highest administrative court.

Aylo, owner of these websites, wants government to rethink on age verification methods

Aylo

, the Cyprus-based owner of the three platforms, welcomed the decree's suspension as an "opportunity to reconsider more efficient approaches" to age verification. Earlier in June, Aylo had made its websites unavailable in France as a form of protest against the decree. Non-compliance could have led to significant penalties, including fines or website blocking.Aylo has consistently argued that the mandated age verification mechanism is not only ineffective but also poses an unacceptable security risk by exposing users' sensitive data to potential hacks or leaks.

The company had previously displayed a message on its homepages stating, "Requiring you to repeatedly provide sensitive personal information creates an unacceptable security risk that we refuse to impose on our users."A 2024 study by the France's audio-visual watchdog revealed that approximately 40% of children access pornographic sites every month. To address privacy concerns, the suspended government decree also mandated that operators offer a third-party "double-blind" verification option, ensuring platforms couldn't view users' identifying information.Aylo has urge governments to instead require operating system makers, such as Apple, Microsoft and Google, to implement age verification at the device level. Other nations, including the UK and Germany, also enforce various age-related access restrictions for adult websites.