On February 16, 2023, the Commission of National Assembly released the proposed law on establishing a digital age and fighting against online hate. In addition, the Commission also published its Report which was available on February 22, 2023 on their portal. Accordingly, the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) celebrated the launch of an experiment of a solution within the framework of the legislative proposal. It complies with their recommendation on the age verification regarding the access to pornography back in July, 2022 and conforming to the GDPR. The CNIL produced such recommendations in cooperation with the French public authority for the regulation of audiovisual and digital communication (Arcom – Autorité publique française de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique).
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The social context in France
In principle, the porno sites must require a minimum age of 18 to create a user account whether it is the account of a creator, a fan or an ambassador. These websites have also put in place the systems of age verification. For instance, they request the creators to provide an ID certificate or use the age estimation software before consulting explicit content. However, these websites duly reinforced these measures, which are easily eluded. As reported by Franceinfo and its witnesses, a minor affirmed that teens can follow free accounts on these websites such as MYM without difficulty. Normally, they cannot see everything posted but the sites’ creators often make their (almost or fully) naked photos available in free access.
Solution experiment
The new law provides the conditions of the access to certain websites or online services, especially access to pornography. In terms of child and privacy protection, the CNIL, in collaboration with Prof. Olivier BLAZY at Ecole Polytechnique and Center of Expertise of the digital regulation of the State (Pôle d’expertise de la régulation numérique de l’Etat PEReN) has designed a prototype of a system. It will ensure effective control, based on proof of age whilst guaranteeing strong privacy protection. The companies process this supporting control mechanism will be separate from the website editors based on the following principles.
- The system certifies that the visitors are the right age and knows who they are. Nevertheless, it does not know which site that they are visiting.
- The sites where the internet users visit, receive the proof of age but do not know who the users are.
As a result, experiment that the government recently announced will generate the operational and marketable solutions. Accordingly, they align with the proposed prototype and comply to the recommendation of the CNIL and Arcom. Meanwhile, we are also looking for the U.S. Court’s decision about the destiny of Section 230, the immunity of the social networks. We’ll keep you updated.
Full text of the proposed law: https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/16/textes/l16b0859_texte-adopte-commission#
The Commission’s Report: https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/16/rapports/cion-cedu/l16b0859_rapport-fond
The CNIL press release: https://www.cnil.fr/fr/controle-de-lage-pour-lacces-aux-sites-pornographiques
For more information of the internet on AstraIA Gear: https://www.astraiagear.com/2023/01/14/from-us-communications-decency-act-section-230-of-1996-to-2015-paris-terrorist-attacks/