An Amsterdam court has ordered one of the largest adult entertainment websites, xHamster, to remove all amateur porn videos showing recognizable people in the Netherlands who did not consent to be featured on the site.
The Expertise Bureau for Online Child Abuse (EOKM) raised complaints that xHamster failed to secure permission from the amateur performers in 10 videos.
According to the court, this violated European privacy laws and conflicted with a prior judgment requiring porn sites to receive permission from all amateur performers before posting their videos.
xHamster Fails to Provide Proof of Consent
The ruling has major consequences for the entire porn industry, including the giant Pornhub, which was already forced to remove upto 10 million videos in 2020.
The lawyers helping EOKM in the case said that xHamster’s action of deleting the flagged content and checking the content before it is published on the website, were not enough to show that the adult site got permission for a plethora of videos being shared on its platform.
xHamster requires professional producers and verified members to upload content. Before any verified member’s upload is made public, moderators conduct a review to block illegal content. The website’s terms of service require that each uploader provides a consent form from each person recognizably featured in all amateur content.
Millions of Non-Consensual Videos
Hammy Media, which operates xHamster, argued that all the offending content was posted between 2017 and 2020, before the court’s new order in 2021. However, the court stated that xHamster was still required to obtain permission for all amateur content on its site, not just that posted after 2021.
EOKM suggested in its press release that there are millions of older videos that xHamster will need to delete to comply with the court order. Flagged content includes both; videos of people living in the Netherlands, which should be restricted globally, and those living outside the Netherlands, which should be restricted within the country.
Amateur Performer Vs Porn Star
An amateur performer is different from a professional porn star. Amateurs are typically lone actors and are not paid for their performance. They may be individuals or couples who have filmed themselves engaging in sexual activity for fun or to share with others.
On the other hand, professional porn stars are technically celebrities who are paid for their work in the adult entertainment industry. They have typically signed contracts with production companies and agreed to have their performances recorded and distributed on various platforms.
While porn stars are compensated for their videos, amateur performers may not always distribute their videos online. Some of them may not be aware that their video has landed on a porn site. They do not have the same legal protections and representation as professional actors in the porn industry.
This is exactly what happened in this case. The amateur performers featured in the videos on xHamster allegedly did not provide consent for their redistribution.
Victory for Privacy Rights
The court has given xHamster 3 weeks to comply with the order and remove all flagged videos, or face maximum fines per video up to 32,000 USD daily. EOKM sees the verdict as a victory for the rights and privacy of victims whose nude images and videos were published without evident consent.
The court order is expected to make it easier for victims to have unlawful images removed and to provide more clarity regarding websites that do not comply with privacy laws.
