On October 14, 2026, the EU General Court in Luxembourg dismissed in full the challenge from Technius Ltd, the Cyprus-based operator of cam platform Stripchat, to the European Commission's December 2023 decision to designate Stripchat a "very large online platform" (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act (case T-134/24, Technius v Commission). Reuters reported that the court found the Commission had given Stripchat "adequate reasons" for how it counted the platform's users. The ruling can be appealed on points of law to the EU Court of Justice, and AdultFYI reports that Stripchat says it is considering an appeal.

Why It Matters

For adult platforms in Europe, how users are counted is now a legal question that brings real liabilities. The court has endorsed the Commission's right to make a designation on the evidence available at the time and to reject a platform's own filtering of "bounce" traffic. A platform that later proves it was smaller has no guaranteed way to undo the designation after the fact. Any adult site near the 45M line, including cam, tube and creator platforms, should expect its self-reported audience figures to be tested and should document its counting method in detail. The ruling also keeps Stripchat's 2023–2025 VLOP period legally intact, and that period is the one the Commission's minor-protection case covers.

The case came down to arithmetic. VLOP status applies at 45 million average monthly active EU users. Technius had reported about 31.8 million for February 2023, using Similarweb data, after excluding visits where users left the site almost immediately. The Commission rejected that method and estimated more than 62 million monthly unique visitors, according to PYMNTS's account of the court's summary. The judges held that the Commission was entitled to rely on the data it had when it made the designation, even though later revisions put Stripchat below the threshold.

The ruling does not put Stripchat back under the strictest regime. The Commission withdrew the VLOP designation on May 27, 2025, after revised audience figures, and the extra obligations lapsed four months later (PYMNTS). What Technius wanted was a retroactive annulment of the 2023 decision. AdultFYI notes this could have helped it recover supervisory fees and limit exposure for the period it was designated. That door is now shut unless the Court of Justice reopens it.

The judgment arrives while the Commission's separate DSA enforcement against adult platforms is still open. In March 2026 it issued preliminary findings that Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos had breached the DSA over protection of minors (our coverage). DSA breaches can draw fines of up to 6% of global annual turnover.

Sources

Update — 2026-10-15

Initial entry — story first created.