Two out of three minors under the age of 15 have already had access to pornographic images online. This is one of the edifying conclusions of the report of the delegation for women’s rights in the Senate, released on Wednesday, and baptized Porn: decor hell. But if this proportion is particularly alarming, it is not new. Because the legislator has been struggling for years to solve the sea serpent that has become the access of minors to porn sites. The next step is scheduled for next Tuesday, after a period of mediation between Arcom and the main pornographic tube sites such as Pornhub, Tukif, XHamster, Xvideos or Xnxx, targeted in December 2021 by a formal notice to prohibit their access under the age of 18, and who are trying by all means to drag out the procedures.
Today, no obvious solution exists, in fact, to verify the age of Internet users. Since the mid-2000s, when PornHub or Xvideos were created, the dissemination of porn has become massive, which has “contributed to the resurgence of increasingly ‘trash’ and violent content, without any control or consideration for the conditions under which this content is produced”, denounce the authors of the report. In France, the law of July 30, 2020 on domestic violence recalls that companies which expose minors to pornographic photos and videos cannot exonerate themselves from their responsibilities by simply asking a user if he is an adult. But technically, how? Where are we on online age verification? Will we one day be able to rely on a viable solution?
A technical solution is available in France
We don’t talk about it much, but in France, a technical solution has been developed jointly by the Cnil, the Center of Expertise for Digital Regulation (Peren) and Polytechnique. “The source code is ready and anyone can run the solution on their machine,” says Olivier Blazy, professor of cryptography and cybersecurity at the Ecole Polytechnique, who has been working for a year on a system for verifying the age of internet users. To develop this prototype, two aspects were decisive: “we had to guarantee both that the person was of legal age and the protection of people’s privacy”, explains the expert.
“We bet on a solution from a trusted third party who already knows our age,” he continues. Thus, the Internet user could call on France Connect, his bank, his telephone operator, to issue a temporary token attesting to his age. “This token can be presented to any site without knowing who generated it. Similarly, the trusted third party who has been asked for it will not be able to know for which site – pornographic, alcohol sales, casino, or even for a social network – it is intended.
No AI, unlike Germany in particular
The research team looked to its European neighbors to determine the way forward. “The United Kingdom tried, a few months ago, the age control via a code to withdraw in a tobacconist. The really impractical side, and strong resistance from users, got the better of this solution”, explains Olivier Blazy. On our side of the Channel, the two pillars sought were precisely the ease of access and the confidence of the Internet user, so as not to reproduce the British pitfalls.
On the German side, the solutions that stand out are still different and use artificial intelligence. A choice set aside by the French. Olivier Blazy again: “We preferred that the first check be done via a human process. The problem with artificial intelligence is that it uses a probability solution and cannot guarantee data protection. It also lacks the irrefutable proof side of the user’s age.
Without speaking about the margin of error – of the order of five years – that it presents. Understood: such a solution would only validate access to porn sites for people over 23, or those it identifies as such, and for social networks, for example, for people over 18 or 20. Unthinkable that it passes so many resistances in France. “I think we are the only ones to offer our solution,” adds the researcher. It is intended to be applied at European level, but it is the regulator who will decide.
Digital identity, the great saviour?
But then, if viable technical solutions exist, why does the implementation take so long? Because the legislator did not wait to pass laws, requiring strict control of the age of users of porn sites. “We started working on the prototype about a year ago, when Arcom started sending the first formal notices to the sites concerned, recalls Olivier Blazy. We had to quickly come up with a solution.”
Why not wait for the generalization of digital identity, which should eventually allow this age verification? “In an ideal world, we would have waited until the e-ID card was operational and deployed”. As the report of the Senate committee points out, there is an urgent need to protect minors online. “Our solution is ready for tomorrow,” says the researcher. But the State must now discuss, negotiate, with sites, platforms, social networks. It is a long political journey that is opening up”.
In the hands of decision-makers… and parents!
And if in the end, the decision came from platforms and social networks? Instagram gives the impression of embarking on this ground with the establishment of a test to verify the age. “It would be a big step forward,” says Olivier Blazy. Because then, many sites would follow in the footsteps of these Web giants. Yet it is impossible not to imagine pockets of resistance, especially among small independent sites or on the side of fierce defenders of web freedom. But the protection of minors is at stake here.
And then, adds Olivier Blazy, you have to ask yourself what the goal is. “Is it to prevent minors from accessing pornographic content without really looking for it, or to figure out how to completely ban access to porn sites even for the most motivated of teenagers? Because we know how to put in place an effective protective measure, but not a perfect solution.” Indeed, when we talk about bypassing, we immediately think VPN. And, to a lesser extent, parental control, another sea serpent which crystallizes many tensions. But for parents in PLS, wouldn’t avoiding the current open bar on porn content already be a relief?