Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002830/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Tom Vandendriessche (PfE)
Recently, MindGeek, owner of, inter alia, Pornhub, announced that it will introduce mandatory age verification in the United Kingdom as of July 2025 to deny minors access to pornographic material. This is a result of UK regulations requiring platforms to adopt stricter control measures.
However, similar measures have yet to be adopted within the European Union. Minors still have unhindered access to explicit pornographic content in many Member States, often without any form of age check. While the Digital Services Act obliges platforms to take measures to protect minors, their compliance in practice appears to be extremely lacking.
In view of this:
- 1.How does the Commission view the fact that large pornographic platforms such as Pornhub are introducing effective age verification in the UK without doing so in the EU?
- 2.Does the Commission consider the protection of minors against explicit online content within the EU to be currently sufficient in light of the obligations under the Digital Services Act?
- 3.What is the state of play regarding the development and planned implementation of the announced EU age verification app?
Submitted: 10.7.2025