Eire’s media regulator is popping up the warmth on Elon Musk’s social media website X for not correctly checking the age of customers who can entry porn.
The nation’s new On-line Security Code consists of provisions on age assurance to maintain minors away from dangerous content material, together with pornographic and violent content material. The code applies to video-sharing platforms X, Fb and TikTok. These age-check provisions got here into impact on July 21.
“Primarily based on an preliminary assessment of the X platform, we can’t see proof of measures taken to adjust to this age assurance requirement,” a spokesperson for Eire’s media regulator Coimisiún na Meán informed POLITICO in an announcement.
The regulator has “additional issues” of non-compliance, “together with however not restricted to” the “availability of parental controls.”
The regulator requested X to supply data by July 25 and “will take additional motion the place there’s proof of non-compliance with the Code,” the spokesperson stated.
The Coimisiún na Meán in June put strain on X to adjust to the code, sending the platform a statutory data request to explain its compliance measures. X has a deadline to reply by Aug. 8, which was prolonged from July 22. The platform dangers being charged with a criminal offense and fined as much as €500,000 ought to it fail to reply by the deadline.
Musk’s platform can also be difficult the code earlier than Eire’s Excessive Court docket, together with sure provisions contained inside it and its software to X. A choice on that problem is predicted on Friday, July 25.
Eire’s new media legislation is a nationwide implementation of the European Audiovisual Media Companies Directive (AVMSD). Corporations with their EU headquarters in Eire must observe Irish guidelines.
X didn’t reply to a request for remark in time for publication.
An X spokesperson stated earlier that the corporate is “totally dedicated to complying with all relevant legal guidelines and rules,” together with Eire’s code, and is “prioritizing its implementation.”
The French authorities is contemplating classifying X, Bluesky and Reddit as porn platforms, which might imply they must observe stricter age verification necessities.