EU Court Greenlights France’s Age Checks on Pornographic Sites Across Bloc

The ruling followed a challenge by Czech operators WebGroup Czech Republic and NKL Associates to France’s age-check law.

The towers of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, on Jan. 26, 2017. Francois Lenoir/File Photo/Reuters

The EU’s top court ruled on June 16 that France can require pornographic ​websites based elsewhere in the bloc to ‌verify users’ ages.

Since 2025, France has required publishers of pornographic material to implement technical age verification mechanisms to prevent minors from accessing their websites.