Redazione RHC : 13 November 2025 07:32
From November 12, 2025, AGCOM reported that in line with art. 13-bis of the Caivano decree (dl123/2023) , 47 adult websites accessible from Italy would have to introduce an identity verification system to prevent access by minors.
This measure, anticipated for months, was heralded as a decisive step toward protecting young people online. However, one day after the deadline, the main adult portals are still freely accessible, without any additional verification.
Visiting Pornhub, the world’s largest adult content hub, today, the site looks exactly the same: a home screen where the user simply declares they are at least 18 years old to enter. It’s a standard window, identical to those seen in other countries where, however, there are real access controls. Simply click “I’m 18 or over – Enter” to gain free access to all content.
This situation raises more than one question. Italy had promised decisive action, after months of discussions and pressure from associations and politicians. But today, the reality is that nothing has changed: the sites remain open, and identity verification remains on paper only. This situation brings to mind other cases where announcements and measures have proven ineffective or incomplete.
While we at Red Hot Cyber believe that the measure, even if implemented, would have been a palliative measure, it’s clear that the problem isn’t just technical, but also political and cultural. Using tools like VPNs , Tor Browser , or proxies allows users to easily bypass any block or geographic restriction, making the measure merely a superficial barrier. Furthermore, in such a destructured environment, cybercriminals would be the ones to swell their wallets by peddling infostealer VPNs as free VPNs and hoarding personal data.
But there’s an even more worrying aspect: the image Italy projects to the international community. When a country announces a control measure and then fails to implement it, it is weakened. And this affects not only the management of adult content, but more generally its credibility in enforcing its own digital laws.
A similar precedent had already been set with the DeepSeek case , the Chinese artificial intelligence that was “banned” in Italy but never actually blocked. A story that repeats itself, demonstrating how often announcements fail to translate into concrete results.
One wonders, then, what the managers of the 47 adult sites that were placed under observation think today: perhaps they’re wondering how seriously Italy really wants to address the issue. A question we, unfortunately, are asking ourselves too.
At this time, there is no talk of sanctions or concrete measures against sites that have failed to comply with the requirement to introduce an age verification system. No fines or action by the competent authorities appears to have been initiated.
This silence is in stark contrast to what happened, for example, in France , where after the official launch of the Age Verification system, only a few portals remained operational without complying with the new rules, and were quickly blocked or forced to comply. In Italy, however, the impression is that everything has remained at the level of declarations of principle, without any concrete follow-up.
And so, while technology and the internet advance at ever-increasing speed, Italy seems stuck in the limbo of good intentions and grand promises.
A very distant but still relevant phrase by the great Adriano Olivetti comes to mind, which perfectly describes today’s situation:
“Italy still proceeds through compromise, through the old systems of political opportunism, bureaucratic power, grand promises, grand plans, and modest achievements.”
Redazione