Stripchat loses legal fight against EU tech label

BRUSSELS, Oct 14 : Adult content platform Stripchat, a subsidiary of Cyprus's Technius, on Thursday lost its legal challenge against EU tech regulators' decision to include it in a list of companies subject to stringent requirements under landmark online content rules after Europe's second-highest court rejected its arguments, a court statement said.

Three years ago, the European Commission designated Stripchat and two other adult content companies as very large online platforms under the Digital Services Act which requires such companies to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms. DSA breaches can cost companies fines as much as 6 per cent of their global turnover.

Stripchat subsequently sued the Commission, which is the EU tech enforcer, at the Luxembourg-based General Court. It disagreed with how the Commission calculated its number of users, a benchmark used to assess whether a company falls under the DSA.

A court statement stated that the European Commission had given Stripchat adequate reasons for its decision.

The ruling can be appealed on matters of law at the EU Court of Justice, Europe's top court.