EU investigates four pornography platforms over risks to children

The EU launched an investigation on Tuesday into four pornographic platforms.

The EU launched an investigation on Tuesday into four pornographic platforms over suspicions they are failing to stop children accessing adult content in breach of the bloc's strict digital content law.

The European Commission said its investigations into Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos "focus on the risks for the protection of minors, including those linked to the absence of effective age verification measures".

The commission, the European Union's tech regulator, accused the platforms of not having "appropriate" age verification tools to prevent children from being exposed to porn.

An AFP correspondent had only to click a button on Tuesday stating they were older than 18, without any further checks, to gain access to each of the four platforms.

The commission found that the four platforms did not have "appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors".

They also did not have measures in place to prevent negative effects on children as well as users' mental and physical well-being, the commission said.

"Online platforms must ensure that the rights and best interests of children are central to the design and functioning of their services," it added.