Twitter could well be blocked in France! Many child defense associations have seized Arcom, because pornographic, pedophile and zoophile content is easily accessible on the social network.
Twitter is once again in turmoil! About sixty associations for the defense of children’s rights – including Open (Observatory of parenting and digital education), Unaf (National Union of Family Associations) and Cofrade (French Council of Associations for the rights of the child) – seized theArcom (French public authority for the regulation of audiovisual and digital communication) in order to request the seizure and formal notice of the social network. The problem ? The blue bird broadcasts a lot of pornographic content, which minors can come across. “Our associations have noted the presence on Twitter of a large number of pornographic images and videos, likely to be seen by children. […] There are also zoophilic pornographic videos on this mainstream social network, and others featuring underage people or characters. Explain the press release published this Monday, August 29, 2022.
Twitter: pornographic content accessible to minors
In France, social networks are prohibited for children under 13, and those between 13 and 15 must register with parental authorization. Well, in theory. In fact, it is often enough to put a false year of birth and I say that we are over 18 years old. Either way, Twitter is home to underage accounts. However, if the social network prohibits “media showing violence and / or sexual assault”, “intimate photos or videos of a person taken or broadcast without their consent” and “any content that depicts or promotes the sexual exploitation of children” in its terms of use, it allows pornographic content – like videos from PornHub for example. Therefore – and this is the problem – minors can quite accidentally stumble upon it.
To justify the seizure, the associations rely on thearticle 227-24 of the Penal Codeamended in December 2021, which prohibits “to manufacture, transport, distribute” pornographic content – including that involving animals – if it is likely to be seen by minors. The platforms are also reprehensible “if the access of a minor to the messages mentioned in the first paragraph results from a simple declaration by the latter indicating that he is at least eighteen years old.” Which is exactly what Twitter does.
Online pornography: Arcom wants to block X sites
This article had already led Arcom to give formal notice to the editors of “adult” X sites such as Pornhub, Pornhub, Xhamster, Xnxx and Xvideos to comply with the legal obligation to block minors’ access to their content ( see our article). They will appear before the Paris court on September 6. Before starting the procedure, the associations contacted Twitter France, which merely redirected them to the Irish host without answering their questions. From now on, everything is in the hands of Arcom, which has undertaken to “instruct” the request. If the authority decides to put the platform on notice, Twitter will have 15 days to comply with the law, otherwise it will be blocked in France.