Three high-traffic adult sites previously classified as “very large online platforms” under the European Union’s Digital Services Act are reporting user numbers below the threshold for that label, opening the way for possible downgrading of their obligations under that law.
Under the DSA, which took effect in late 2022, sites and platforms that reach at least 45 million monthly active users are designated as “very large online platforms” (VLOPs). VLOPs are subject to more stringent regulations under the DSA.
Initially, only mainstream giants such as Facebook and YouTube were designated as VLOPs, but in December 2023, the European Commission designated Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos as VLOPs as well.
In 2024, XVideos, Pornhub and Stripchat sued the EU over their classification as VLOPs, contesting the data used to determine their status.
Earlier this week, XVideos posted its latest mandated update to its estimate of average monthly users in the EU, setting the figure at 31 million. Meanwhile, Pornhub’s most recent figure is 26.6 million average monthly users in the EU, and Stripchat’s most recent DSA transparency report shows slightly less than 20 million average monthly EU users.
The XVideos figure represents a substantial decrease in estimated users, from 150 million in 2023 to 84 million in 2024, down to the current estimate of 31 million. The site’s posting attributes the precipitous drop in the figure to an improved method of accounting for incognito users — approximately 40% of site visitors, according to XVideos.
EU Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier told news site Euractiv, which first reported the trend, “If a VLOP falls below the threshold, de-labelling is indeed possible and then the general DSA obligations would apply to such a platform.”