The porn site xHamster has refused to implement effective youth protection for years. This is a thorn in the side of the NRW Media Authority. After a network ban fizzled out without effect, the portal operators suddenly showed themselves willing to talk.
Surprising change of strategy in the dispute between media regulators and porn providers: lawyers from the xHamster portal want to meet with the media regulators for the first time next Tuesday in Düsseldorf. Both sides confirmed this.
For years, the creators of xHamster and other large porn portals have refused to put effective youth protection in front of their offers. xHamster had recently made the media supervisors look old. Although they were able to block the network, the creators of the portal circumvented this with a simple trick: they added a letter to the domain and thus let the block run into nothing.
In the meantime, the media supervisors are striving for an amendment to the Youth Media State Treaty. Meanwhile, they are puzzling over the change of course by xHamster. The portal left her letters unanswered for years.
“The fact that xHamster is now trying to have a conversation may be due to the fact that fleeing into illegality is not a permanent solution for a commercial enterprise, even against the background of our measures,” said Tobias Schmid, director of the State Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia. “Regardless of all this, we call on xHamster to follow our instructions immediately and to ensure the protection of young people and especially children in accordance with the legal requirements.”
According to xHamster, they are committed to discussing a “consistent and effective solution to restricting children’s access to porn.” xHamster, which like many other porn providers is based in Cyprus, is currently examining various concepts to improve the protection of minors. They are also in contact with the Cypriot media supervisory authority.
The media regulators want to oblige the porn providers to put an effective age verification in front of their offers. Proceedings are pending before the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Münster against several other porn providers. The Düsseldorf Administrative Court had agreed with the North Rhine-Westphalia Media Authority in the first instance.
Mirko Vossen from the Commission for the Protection of Young Persons in Berlin said that there is now a technical solution that could make the step easier for porn providers: biometric age control using artificial intelligence. A corresponding age verification has meanwhile been positively evaluated by the media authorities. She manages without identity papers.
The porn industry fears a drop in reach if users are forced to enter their data for the purpose of age verification for taboo porn consumption. The new generation of age checks can do without: The programs could use the user’s face to check and recognize the age of majority.
