The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has strengthened the powers of EU member states over digital services from other EU countries. According to Heise, national authorities may now require foreign providers of pornographic websites to implement effective age verification. A ban on apps that warn about police checks is also lawful.
The ruling stems from two French decrees: one mandates technical protection measures for minors on porn platforms, the other prohibits geolocation services from distributing speed camera and police warnings. Two operators of adult websites based in the Czech Republic and the French provider of the driver assistance system Coyote System filed lawsuits. They invoked the country-of-origin principle of the E-Commerce Directive, under which a digital service provider in the EU internal market is subject only to the laws of its country of establishment.
The Luxembourg judges rejected this argument. They emphasized that youth protection and public security can justify restrictions. Although the services generally fall under the E-Commerce Directive, it provides for exceptions. The prerequisite is that the measures are proportionate and target specific services. In addition, the member state concerned must first ask the platform’s country of origin to take action itself and notify the EU Commission of its plans. The national court will now examine whether France complied with these steps.
For Germany, the ruling has immediate consequences. The Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM) and media policymakers have been demanding effective age controls on foreign porn sites for years, but often failed due to the country-of-origin principle of platforms based in Cyprus or the Czech Republic.
Source: www.heise.de
