The End of Immunity for Internet Service Providers? C-188/24 WebGroup Czech Republic and NKL Associates and C-190/24 Coyote System, judgment 16 June 2026

Lorna Woods, Professor Emerita, University of Essex Photo credit: TodayTesting.com, via Wikimedia Commons This recent CJEU judgment has been flagged in some quarters as upholding the French rules requiring age verification for porn sites. In others, it has been seen as stripping intermediary immunity from social media sites. Based on the e-Commerce Directive, however, is this just a transient discussion, fading away as the Digital Services Act (DSA) becomes the relevant law? The Facts The national cases in Case C-188/24 concern French rules requiring porn operators to implement technical age verification mechanisms to prevent minors from accessing those sites. The companies were each the subject of a formal notice pursuant to Decree No 2021/1306 implementing Law No 2020-936 and Article 227-24 of the Criminal Code which prohibits any person from broadcasting a pornographic message likely to be seen by a minor. The rules in Coyote System concern the restriction on the broadcasting of…