To access a pornographic site, will you have to prove your age soon? Senators voted an amendment to this effect on the night of June 9-10, incorporated into the bill on domestic violence. The goal is to strengthen the protection of minors from exposure to pornography. A subject of concern shared by Emmanuel Macron, which had requested, at the end of 2019, the creation of devices making it possible to check the real age of users of X sites.
If means of control already exist, these very often consist in a confirmation of the age via a single click. Teenagers can therefore easily bypass this system to access a pornographic site.
“Many minors view pornographic images as soon as they enter college, during intercourse. We know that 50% of children under 12 have already watched a pornographic film. What impact will the consumption of pornographic images have in the medium term on their emotional, psychological and sexual development? “, questions Senator LR Marie Mercier, who is behind this amendment.
It gives the power to the CSA (Superior council of audio-visual) to put in residence a site X which would leave an access to pornographic contents to the minors. If the site does not comply with the law, the CSA may order internet operators to block it in France.
Concrete identification solutions
How can this amendment be applied in practice? For the senator, there are already solutions to identify the age of a user, such as the use of a payment card or the France Connect system, which aims to facilitate online procedures, like taxes or health insurance. This service is used today by around 14 million French people.
“The use of France Connect is problematic because the State will have information that you have connected to a particular site and may thus have information, for example your sexual orientation, which is contrary to article 9 of the GDPR », specifies Olivier Blazy, lecturer in computer science at the University of Limoges, 20 minutes. The use of a bank card as a verification tool is also problematic, since it is possible to have one from the age of 16.
The Senate makes access to pornographic sites more difficult.
For example, you will have to connect via France Connect, the system that already allows you to identify yourself to public services.# JT8h pic.twitter.com/FUXe4q9Cgq
– Info France 2 (@ infofrance2) June 11, 2020
Such a device can also be easily bypassed. During a hearing at the National Assembly, the pornographic site Jacquie et Michel had expressed its reservations, reports Le Parisien. “ We expressed our doubts about the real effectiveness of these technical blocking measures. They will be easy to get around with the increasing use of VPN services ”, explained the platform.
VPNs (or “Virtual Private Networks”) allow internet access anonymously. They are used by users who want to pretend that they are connecting from another country to bypass blockages on certain sites.
Despite all the difficulties encountered by this amendment concerning its application, its adoption seems likely, since it has received the approval of the government.
Also read: To protect teens from porn, Australia wants to test facial recognition system
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