Adult content sites maneuver to escape VLOP designation under EU’s DSA

For an industry in which size matters, porn streaming services are proving eager to show how small they actually are. No one, it seems, wants to be considered a very large online platform (VLOP) under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which comes with the bloc’s strictest laws for age verification and kids’ online safety.

Aylo Freesites, the Canadian company that owns Pornhub and other popular adult sites, is arguing that the European Commission made a mistake in categorizing it as a VLOP. Stripchat has no interest in being one. Nor do social media sites believe they should qualify: surely, says Meta, it’s not correct to call Facebook and Instagram, two of the largest online platforms, “very large online platforms.”

The definition of a VLOP according to current EU policy is any platform having an average of at least 45 million monthly active users in the EU. A report from MLex says Pornhub initially reported a number below that threshold, a number that the commission deemed to be unreliable. As a result, it opted to consult alternative data from third-party sources (specifically, Similarweb) – which led to its being classified as a VLOP.

Pornhub has effectively responded by suggesting that, if Similarweb’s data is to seal its fate, it ought to be audited with the same scrutiny as Pornhub’s own numbers. They want the data and methodology on which it was based clearly laid out.

Regardless, Pornhub’s arguments boil down to technicalities, and there’s little chance of the company winning its argument, given that it has maintained a position in the top 20 websites globally for years. According to Similarweb, Pornhub has around 75 million users in the EU – far beyond the 45 million-user threshold.

Stripchat, already de-designated as a VLOP, still pursuing legal action

Technius, which operates Stripchat, is also trying to legally wheedle its way out of VLOP status under the DSA – despite the European Commission having already revoked that status. A report from Article 19, an NGO dedicated to global universal freedom of expression, says it has intervened to stop Technius from attempting to overturn the European Commission’s classification of Stripchat as a VLOP.

MLex reports that Stripchat’s lawyers argue that the company “should at no time have been regulated as a VLOP by the commission.” Having been designated as one had a “massive negative legal effect, such as being obliged to pay the supervisory fees and being investigated by the commission.” If the decision is annulled, Stripchat could recover the fees it paid.

Cyprus-based Technius, which also owns streaming site XHamster, also used Similarweb data in its initial declaration to the commission. Its stance on Stripchat has bounced back and forth with its status: after being classified as a VLOP, it published numbers below the 45 million user threshold, which “several third-party data sources” contradicted. Then, in July 2024, Similarweb published revised user figures showing Stripchat clearly below the 45 million threshold. This prompted the commission to de-designate the company as a VLOP.

If anything, the case is an example of how online safety laws intended to make the internet safer for children could end up being legal quagmire for years to come.

Article Topics

age verification  |  Aylo  |  Digital Services Act  |  EU age verification  |  Europe  |  legislation  |  regulation