The DSA in France: one regulator, Arcom, for reports and age checks
In France, Arcom is the Digital Services Coordinator for the EU Digital Services Act. It is also the regulator that sets the French age-verification standard for porn sites. So for a French adult site, the same authority looks at your report route, your contact points and your age gate. Here’s how to get both sides in order.
Summary of the official sources · checked 14 October 2026 · Not legal advice. · Sources at the end
Applies from17 February 2024 (DSA)
WhoHosting and platform services established in France
RuleDSA · Arcom as coordinator
Effort to fixHalf a day, plus your référentiel gate
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In short
- Arcom is France’s Digital Services Coordinator: it supervises providers established in France, handles complaints and can impose fines.
- Arcom also sets the référentiel, the French technical standard for age verification on porn sites.
- French upload sites need the DSA basics: a report form (Art. 16), statements of reasons (Art. 17), contact points (Art. 11 and 12) and terms with content rules (Art. 14).
- A studio site with only its own content is usually outside the DSA, but still inside the French age-verification rules.
Does this apply to your site?
In France the questions overlap, because one regulator covers both topics.
- ✓
You are established in France and host user uploadsArcom supervises your DSA duties.
- ✓
Your site shows pornographic content in FranceThe référentiel may apply to your age gate, whether or not you host uploads.
- ?
You are established elsewhere in the EUYour home coordinator supervises DSA duties; the French age rules can still reach your site.
- ?
Users can only comment, not upload mediaComments are still user content. A light report route and terms are usually enough to start.
What regulators expect
- Line up your age gate with the référentiel. Nothing pornographic before the check. Our French age-check page explains what Arcom’s standard covers.
- Publish “Signaler un contenu” in French. A report form with the URL, the reason, name and email and a good-faith statement. Link it from every page, including the gate.
- Name your contacts in the mentions légales area. An authority contact with the languages you accept, for example French and English, and a user contact answered by a person.
- Send decisions in French. Uploaders should learn what you removed, why, and how to complain.
- Add content rules to your CGU. Your terms of use should say what isn’t allowed, how you moderate and how complaints work.
Arcom only supervises DSA duties for providers established in France. The age-verification rules are a separate French law and reach sites showing porn in France.
What good DSA pages look like in France
Mentions légales · Contact DSAdsa@yoursite.fr · français, English
Mentions légales with DSA contacts
The legal page French users expect, with authority and user contacts and the languages.
URL du contenuMotif du signalement
“Signaler un contenu” form
URL, reason, contact and a good-faith checkbox, reachable before the gate.
Contenu retiré · CGU §4 · Contester
Decision notice
A short notice in French with the reason and how to contest it.
How No451 checks your site
We read your mentions légales, CGU and contact pages from a French connection and look for the DSA contact points, content-rules topics and a report form with the Art. 16 elements. Your age gate is checked separately with our age-check checks.
Fix firstMedia files open without the age check (from a related check) Example resultNo stored real DSA result yet, so this is a real finding from our age-check checks: we asked for the headers of 10 media files linked from a home page, without passing the age check, and all 10 answered “200 OK” to an anonymous visitor.
The fix: serve media only with a valid, signed proof. DSA findings use the same format: what we saw, the evidence, the fix.
Contact for authoritiesArt. 11: email and languages
Contact for usersArt. 12: reachable by a person
EU representativeArt. 13: if you’re outside the EU
Terms on content rulesArt. 14: moderation and complaints
Notice and actionArt. 16: report form elements
ComplaintsArt. 20: how to object to a decision
Common mistakes
- Treating Arcom’s two roles as one task. The référentiel is about your gate; the DSA is about reporting, contacts and terms. The sources describe both: the référentiel for the gate, the DSA for reports, contacts and terms.
- Report form only in English. French users and Arcom will expect French.
- Report link hidden behind the gate. Under the DSA, someone who hasn’t passed the age check must still be able to report.
- CGU without moderation rules. Art. 14 asks your terms to explain content restrictions and how complaints work.
Enforcement
Arcom supervises DSA duties for providers established in France, handles complaints and can impose fines. It enforces the French age-verification rules separately, starting with a formal notice and a deadline to comply.
Questions operators ask
Who supervises the DSA in France?
Arcom, as France’s Digital Services Coordinator, for providers established in France. Very large platforms are supervised by the European Commission.
Is the référentiel part of the DSA?
No. It comes from the French SREN law of 2024. Arcom happens to be in charge of both.
Do I need a French-language report form?
The DSA doesn’t name a language, but your users and Arcom will expect French. Offering French and English is the practical choice.
Can the report form sit behind the age check?
Better not. Anyone, including people who don’t want to pass your age check, should be able to report illegal content.
Sources
Not legal advice. This page summarises and links to primary sources; it does not tell you what the law requires of your specific site. Related: DSA in the EU · Age checks in France · France overview
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