Europe’s four biggest porn platforms, Pornhub, XNXX, StripChat, and XVideos, all recorded major drops in traffic in the latest transparency reports that EU law requires them which, if true, would exempt them from some of the most arduous requirements of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
In December 2023, the Commission formally designated Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs). This status means they have to do more under the DSA to mitigate risks on the platform, for example on child protection, as well as provide regular transparency reports and annual independent audits. In July, XNXX was also designated.
The critical criterion for being deemed a VLOP is monthly EU traffic of 45 million or more users. According to the transparency reports filed by the platforms yesterday, three of the four fell below this threshold.
XNXX reported 46 million average monthly users in the EU, a drop from 77 million users in August. The platform said that the number was significantly lower due to a large number of people using an ”incognito” window. It said that they previously judged the number of users from ”experience and rule of thumb” and estimated the number above 45 million to stay a VLOP under the DSA.
XVideos, which has the same owner as XNXX, recorded 31 million average monthly users in the EU, a drop from 84 million users in August. It applied the same justification as XNXX, referring to calculation changes that come as a result of how they estimate geographical origin of users on incognito-mode browsers.
PornHub stated that as of 1 January, the platform had average monthly EU users of 26.6 million which they calculated in the past six months. Stripchat recorded the same number of users as PornHub: an average of 26.6 monthly users. However, this information was from 1 August which was not updated, since they indicated the drop from the threshold last year.
If the numbers are taken by the Commission at face value, this would mean only XNXX would be a VLOP and face tougher rules under the DSA.