The European Commission opened formal investigations on Tuesday into four major pornographic platforms over suspected failures to prevent minors from accessing adult content.

Brussels says the four — Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos — are acting in violation of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).

What is the EU investigating?

The Commission said the platforms do not have "appropriate and proportionate measures" in place and warned of possible mental and physical harm to young users.

"The online space should be a safe environment for children to learn and connect," said Henna Virkkunen, the EU commissioner responsible for digital affairs. "Our priority is to protect minors and allow them to navigate safely online."

All four platforms were classified as "very large online platforms" under the DSA — subject to stricter oversight — though Stripchat was recently removed from the list after reporting fewer than 45 million monthly EU users. The investigation will still cover the period when it qualified.

The Commission said the investigation aims to collect more evidence, including interviews and technical assessments, to determine whether the platforms are in breach of EU law.

What could the porn site investigation mean?

Violations of the DSA could result in fines of up to 6% of a company's global turnover or even an EU ban for repeated breaches.

While the Commission noted that launching the probe does not prejudge its outcome, it emphasized the urgency of protecting children online.

Under the Digital Services Act, platforms are required to implement effective age verification tools to block access to pornographic content for minors, remove illegal material promptly, and provide simple mechanisms for users to report harmful or illegal content.

Pornhub's parent company, Aylo, said it is "fully committed" to child safety and compliance with the law, but argued that age verification should be handled at the device level, not by websites. The other companies did not respond to requests for comment.

The EU is also developing an official age-verification app and has invited public input, including from parents, as part of broader efforts to create binding guidelines for online child protection.

Edited by Sean Sinico