France’s media and digital communications regulator Arcom has issued formal compliance notices to two adult websites that failed to implement age verification measures required under the country’s new Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law.

The enforcement action, announced Tuesday, follows an earlier round of warnings sent on March 6 to five online services found to be in violation of French law by allowing minors to access pornographic content without verification.

According to Arcom’s statement, three of the five providers responded by deploying age verification (AV) systems. While these services avoided sanctions for now, the regulator is actively evaluating the effectiveness of the solutions put in place.

The remaining two providers, however, have not taken any action, prompting Arcom to issue formal orders to comply. They now have 15 days to implement adequate AV mechanisms or face potential penalties, including:

• Blocking of access to the websites,
• Delisting from search engines, and/or
• Financial sanctions.

The websites and companies involved were not named in the public statement.

The enforcement marks a significant development under the SREN law, which came into effect in January 2025, granting Arcom new authority to monitor, evaluate, and penalize non-compliant platforms.

In October 2024, Arcom published a technical reference guide for age verification implementation. The framework was designed as an interim measure, ahead of anticipated guidance from the European Commission under the EU Digital Services Act.

Although Arcom’s current enforcement applies to France-based operators, that scope will expand on June 7 to include platforms based in other EU countries, effectively broadening the reach of French AV rules to foreign providers.

Separately, the parent company of Pornhub, Aylo, is challenging aspects of the SREN law in court, signaling continued industry resistance to mandatory age verification mandates.

Arcom reaffirmed its position on Tuesday, stating it “remains committed to protecting minors online” and emphasized the need for a cohesive EU-wide regulatory framework to tackle such issues.

As a regulatory authority, Arcom is tasked with ensuring freedom of communication, promoting a trustworthy digital environment, and safeguarding youth from harmful content online, including pornography.