Whether queer or straight, many people hang out on porn portals such as YouPorn or PornHub. The question of whether watching movies here is legal or not is not new. Now, however, the discussion about the protection of minors has flared up once again. According to the court decision, the platforms violate guidelines.
But: said decision was declared in summary proceedings. Accordingly, a final decision still requires the associated main proceedings.
The complaint in summary: Many people are concerned that the content of the porn sites in question is freely accessible. The distribution in Germany should be stopped for quite some time.
The State Media Authority NRW (LfM) and its concerns
With regard to the protection of minors, the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landesanstalt für Medien NRW) is campaigning for Pornhub, YouPorn and Co. to no longer be freely accessible in the future. The court that heard the case seems to be of a similar opinion here. The state agency was therefore pleased with the ruling, which could have wide implications in the future.
One of the demands is that the age of the platform users be checked in the future. Due to the initial success, the state agency is also positive with regard to the main proceedings that are still to follow. It does not see any alternative to age checks here - except that it would still be possible to refrain from operating the platforms in Germany altogether.
Portal operators file objection
It is clear that those who (still) offer the films on the net without age control are not thrilled by the ruling. However, the court made it clear that it was important to control the age of virtual visitors in view of the fact that around 50 percent of the young people addressed in a survey had already come into contact with porn on the Internet.
In the meantime, some operators of relevant platforms have already lodged an objection.
In connection with the discussion about pornographic content on the Internet, it was repeatedly emphasized that it does not make sense to control content that is broadcast on TV so strictly and then act so laxly in connection with content on the Internet. Strictly speaking, it is enough here as a young person to know the URLs of the relevant sites in order to watch hardcore porn.
The chances that something will change - at the latest after the summary judgment - are actually good. Actually...
Many porn platforms are based in Cyprus
... and that's exactly what could turn into a problem for the NRW State Media Authority. Because the fact that the films are operated by platforms based abroad doesn't make things any easier. Even though the court has already confirmed that the German Youth Media Protection Act can be applied here, the interest in cooperating here is rather low. For the time being.
But why is it so difficult for companies to take a step toward the critics? The reason can most likely be explained by the fear of possible sales losses. After all, these could be quite high.
If the age check is carried out correctly and comprehensibly and not just by clicking on a button "Yes, I'm over 18!", a hurdle that should not be underestimated must be overcome. After all, visitors to the pages in question must then provide information about their identity. And it is precisely this that could cause some people to stop visiting the sites in the future. The number of people who want to remain anonymous when watching porn is large.
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