Europe Strengthens Age Verification for Adult Platforms

Formal Proceedings Target Major Adult Sites

On May 26, 2025, the European Commission (EC) announced the opening of formal proceedings under the Digital Services Act (DSA) against four large adult platforms—Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos—for alleged failures to implement robust age verification mechanisms. The probe focuses on whether these sites provide appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure minors cannot access explicit content, a core requirement aimed at protecting the mental and physical well-being of underage users.

DSA Compliance Requirements and Potential Penalties

• The DSA mandates platforms implement risk assessments and audits, building in privacy-preserving age checks.
• Non-compliance can incur fines up to 6% of global annual turnover, with interim measures and binding non-compliance decisions possible.
• Platforms may offer commitments to remedy issues in lieu of formal sanctions.

Company Responses and Industry Self-Regulation

Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company, stated it is “fully committed to ensuring the safety of minors online” and highlighted its compliance with the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection’s (ASACP) Restricted To Adults (RTA) label. However, expert analysts note that RTA operates at the DNS/filtering level and does not verify individual user age, leaving gaps in actual enforcement.

Pornhub’s Proposed Device-Based Verification Model

Pornhub advocates a device-level age verification system, leveraging operating system credentials (e.g., Apple’s Secure Enclave or Android’s Titan M) to assert user age via a one-time verification process. This approach, they argue, reduces repeated personal data collection and aligns with FIDO2/WebAuthn standards for strong authentication while minimizing PII leakage and breach risks.

EU’s White-Label Age-Verification App and EU Digital Wallet Integration

The EC plans to deploy a white-label age-verification app by summer 2025, serving as an interim solution until the full rollout of the EU Digital Wallet in late 2026. Based on eIDAS 2.0 specifications and zero-knowledge proof protocols, the app will allow service providers to confirm users are over 18 without exposing additional identity attributes. Member states can integrate APIs from this app into national digital identity schemes, enabling JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) or Verifiable Credentials to communicate age attestations securely.

Technical Underpinnings of the EU Age-Verification App

1. Identity Proofing: Uses government-issued eIDs verified via public key infrastructure (PKI).
2. Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Employs zk-SNARKs to confirm “age >= 18” without disclosing birthdate.
3. Privacy-Preserving Tokens: Generates short-lived cryptographic tokens signed by national trust lists for site validation.
4. Interoperability: Conforms to W3C Verifiable Credentials and DID standards for cross-platform compatibility.

Privacy and Security Implications

Data protection experts warn that any centralized repository of age data becomes a high-value target for cyberattacks. The use of homomorphic encryption and secure multi-party computation (SMPC) is proposed to mitigate risk. Researchers at KU Leuven’s imec lab emphasize the need for rigorous penetration testing and compliance with ISO/IEC 27001 to safeguard cryptographic key material.

Global Trends and Future Outlook

Beyond Europe, age verification regulations are proliferating in the US, UK, India, and parts of Asia. States like Utah and Arkansas have enacted device-level checks, prompting sites like Pornhub to geo-block entire jurisdictions. Industry analysts at Gartner predict the market for age-verification technologies will exceed $1.2 billion by 2027, driven by demand for biometrics, AI-powered face analytics, and blockchain-based identity wallets.

Implications for Web Developers and Site Operators

Webmasters must plan for integration with external identity APIs, ensuring compliance with the DSA Code of Practice for age-gating. Best practices include:

• Implementing progressive profiling to collect minimal data.
• Adopting server-side validation with time-bound tokens.
• Conducting regular security audits and DSA risk assessments.
• Providing transparent privacy notices aligned with the GDPR.

“Ensuring robust age verification without compromising privacy is a technical challenge that requires cross-industry collaboration and adoption of emerging cryptographic standards,” commented Dr. Maria Perez, lead security researcher at EuroCrypt Institute.

Next Steps in the Investigation

If the EC’s allegations are confirmed, these platforms could face substantial fines and binding interim measures, such as mandatory deployment of the white-label app or other approved age-verification services. The Commission also coordinates with national Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs) to enforce DSA compliance among smaller adult sites across member states.