An elephant in the room—EU policy gaps in the regulation of moderating illegal sexual content on video-sharing platforms

Abstract

With the availability of broadband internet and a significant increase in storage capacity, people are sharing a dynamically growing amount of multimedia content on video-sharing platforms, including sexually explicit content. While sexual content on the internet is not illegal per se and remains in the domain of economic services, there are certain forms of sexually explicit content that are criminally unlawful, such as child pornography or non-consensual pornography. This article explores why the current business-oriented regulatory environment fails to provide effective tools to combat illegal sexual content: first, from the perspective of content moderation on video-sharing platforms, and then from the perspective of substantive criminal law. After mapping the gaps in policy at all levels of content regulation, the article offers recommendations to address these issues, open up a policy debate and influence policy makers.