On 16 June 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down an important ruling in the ongoing dispute over minors’ access to pornographic websites.
For several years now, France has been seeking to enforce a simple obligation: to prevent children from accessing pornographic content through effective age-verification measures. However, several operators based in other European Union Member States have contested France’s right to impose these obligations on them.
In response to a referral from the Conseil d’État, the CJEU has reiterated that the protection of minors may justify action by a Member State in relation to digital services established in another European Union country, without this being precluded by the country-of-origin principle laid down in the EU e-commerce directive.
Key takeaways
Even when a pornographic website is based in another European Union country, France may, subject to certain conditions, require it to implement an age-verification system to prevent minors from accessing its content.
However, the Court imposes strict conditions on this possibility: the measures must be targeted at specific services, be proportionate to the objective pursued, and comply with the procedure laid down in the European Directive on electronic commerce.
This clarification at European level lends particular significance to the campaign launched in 2021 by the e-Enfance / 3018 Association to ensure that the ban on minors accessing pornographic websites is enforced.
Three questions to help you understand the issues at stake
Why is this important for the protection of minors?
Because the early exposure of children and young people to pornographic content is not a minor issue: it can have an impact on their development, their relationship with their bodies, their attitudes to sexuality, consent and their relationships with others.
Today, such content can all too often still be accessed with just a few clicks, without any real age verification. For the e-Enfance / 3018 Association, the protection of minors cannot rely solely on parental vigilance or on children’s ability to protect themselves. It must be underpinned by clear, effective and enforceable obligations for digital service providers.
What will the practical implications be for minors?
This decision serves as a reminder that a Member State may take action to better protect children, even where the services in question are based in another European Union country. In practical terms, this paves the way for a more effective enforcement of the rules designed to prevent minors from accessing pornographic websites.
For children and teenagers, the issue is simple: to navigate a digital environment that is better suited to their age, where access to adult-only content does not depend solely on a tick box or an age declaration that can easily be circumvented.
What will age verification change?
The aim of age verification is to replace purely self-declaratory systems with mechanisms that are genuinely capable of preventing minors from accessing pornographic content. It must not be merely symbolic: to be effective, it must be robust, systematic, respectful of privacy and subject to oversight.
It is a key means of ensuring that the protection of minors moves from being a stated principle to a reality. For the e-Enfance / 3018 Association, this is not about restricting adults’ rights, but about ensuring that children are not exposed to content that is not intended for them.
A look back at four years of legal battles
The start of an unprecedented legal action
In 2021, the e-Enfance / 3018 Association and the La Voix de l’Enfant Association launched an unprecedented legal action. Faced with the inaction of pornographic websites that refuse to implement an age verification system, the two associations are taking legal action to compel Internet Service Providers to block access to these sites.
This measure is based on Law No. 2020-936 of 30 July 2020, which amends Article 227-24 of the Criminal Code. It requires pornographic websites to implement a reliable system for verifying users’ ages, failing which they face severe penalties. The law also allows child protection organisations to take legal action to have access to these sites blocked.
However, in May 2022, the Paris Court of Appeal dismissed the application by the Association e-Enfance / 3018 and La Voix de l’Enfant, citing the principle of subsidiarity, according to which the action should have been brought in the first instance against the publishers or hosting providers of these websites – which are often based outside France – rather than against internet service providers.
A landmark ruling by the Court of Cassation
On 18 October 2023, the Court of Cassation quashed the Court of Appeal’s judgement and recognised the right of associations to take legal action against Internet Service Providers. It confirmed that the law allows legal action to be taken directly against ISPs that fail to block pornographic websites which do not comply with their legal obligation to verify users’ ages.
“We have reached an important milestone in a legal process in which the courts had consistently refused to rule on the merits of the case.”
Justine Atlan, Chief Executive of the e-Enfance Association / 3018
First victory before the trial judges
On 17 October 2024, following several years of legal proceedings, the Paris Court of Appeal ordered the blocking of several pornographic websites, including Xhamster, Tukif, Mrsexe and Iciporno, for failing to comply with their age verification obligations.
This decision is a first in Europe and could set a legal precedent. It confirms that the protection of minors online is a legal requirement, even for platforms based outside the European Union.
Arcom takes action
The Act of 21 May 2024 aimed at securing and regulating the digital space, known as the SREN Act, grants Arcom new powers to combat minors’ access to pornographic content. The authority may initiate proceedings that may lead to blocking, delisting or sanctions against services that fail to comply with their obligations.
In 2025, several pornography services based in the European Union are set to be affected by the implementation of the French framework. This issue has sparked a key legal debate: to what extent can France impose age verification obligations on service providers based in another Member State, given that the E-Commerce Directive is based on the country-of-origin principle?
It was this question that led the Council of State to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The CJEU recognises that the protection of minors may justify targeted national action
In its judgment of 16 June 2026, the CJEU confirmed that the country-of-origin principle remains the framework of reference for the E-Commerce Directive. However, it also recognises that this principle does not prevent a Member State from taking action, subject to certain conditions, against service providers established in another Member State where essential objectives are at stake.
The Court expressly states that the protection of minors is a matter of public policy. It therefore accepts that a Member State may require information society service providers established in other Member States to set up an age verification system to prevent minors from accessing pornographic websites, provided that the conditions laid down in the Directive are met.
This decision does not put an end to all the debate. The Council of State will still have to verify whether the contested French measures comply with all the conditions laid down by EU law. However, it confirms a fundamental point: the protection of minors can justify effective, targeted and proportionate obligations on digital service providers.
Making the best interests of the child an operational principle of digital law
For the e-Enfance / 3018 Association, this decision lies at the heart of its advocacy. Child protection cannot be made subordinate to the economic or legal structure of platforms. It must be guaranteed by clear, enforceable and verifiable obligations.
The introduction of a robust, effective and systematic age verification system must finally become a reality.
Now more than ever, Europe needs coordinated regulation capable of ensuring an equivalent level of protection for all children, regardless of their country of residence or the country in which the digital services to which they are exposed are based.
The e-Enfance / 3018 Association calls on European and national institutions to rise to the challenge: to make the best interests of the child an operational principle of digital law, rather than merely a reference point in principle.
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