Court Orders xHamster to Remove Undocumented Dutch Content

AMSTERDAM—A Dutch appeals court ruled Wednesday that xHamster.com's parent company, Cyprus-based Hammy Media, must remove all content containing Dutch citizens for whom the platform has no age and consent documentation, reports the English-language outlet Dutch News. This is a legal win for a Netherlands-based organization called OffLimits that works to end gender violence and exploitation on the internet, such as non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII; also known as revenge porn). Campaigners at OffLimits received reports that some of the clips uploaded to the tube site were done out of revenge, while other videos were stolen due to hacking and data breaches. The reports prompted OffLimits to file a lawsuit in a lower court. The appeals court upheld the lower court's decision, which places a requirement for the company to remove unlicensed, non-consensual images and videos within three days or face a violation of €10,000 per illegal video. The fines go up the longer Hammy Media waits to a maximum of €500,000. “This ruling underlines the fact that this sort of footage should not be on the internet unless explicit permission has been given,” said Robert Hoving, the director of OffLimits, in a statement. “Porn sites should take more responsibility for ensuring everything is in order for everyone who is pictured.”