Accessibility is, arguably, the whole point of the Internet. We have come to expect nothing less from our online experience than unmediated free expression on a global scale. Indeed, the World Wide Web is defined by the incredible volume and variety of information, services, commerce and channels of communication which it places at users' fingertips -including adult entertainment.
Even though adult entertainment is (by definition) intended for adults only, plenty of minors are still able to access it. This is unsurprising, since kids today are often even more conversant with and reliant upon the Internet and wireless technology than their parents. Sometimes, children view adult material accidentally. Other times they seek it out. Either way, short of denying them access to indispensable tools that have become integral to much of daily life, how can children be prevented from viewing age-restricted content online?
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Attentive parents make rules about what movies, TV shows and video games their children are permitted to watch and play. Obviously, the same should hold true for the Internet. But parents can't always be there to look over their kids' shoulders, especially since children may even access such content using mobile devices. That's why there are numerous products and services designed to help them monitor and chaperone their children's online activity. "Parental controls" are now offered by web browsers, internet service providers (ISPs), firewall proxy servers, search engines, and even computer operating systems. Meanwhile, special plug-ins, toolbars and filtering software are widely available - in many cases for free.
These options are also commonly used to moderate kids' internet use in schools, libraries and other public places. However, even conscientious parents equipped with these tools can't do it alone. Content providers have a responsibility as well. In the case of adult entertainment, websites offering adult videos, pictures, stories, shopping, dating and gambling need to make sure their sites are unambiguously recognizable by parental control systems as being inappropriate for minors.
THE RTA LABEL
That's why, in 2006, the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) launched the RTA ("Restricted To Adults") website label. By providing a single, consistent, universally recognizable tag for adult material, RTA better enables parental filtering - and demonstrates the online adult industry's commitment to helping parents prevent children from viewing age-restricted content.
For more than 15 years RTA has been a vital tool and helped us in our efforts to provide a safe environment for Adult Services. We cannot operate unless we have taken every possible effort to restrict access solely to adults and prevent (even accidental) access to minors. It is a paramount action that every platform and website owner should exercise and we are proud to be part of that effort.
For more information please visit RTA, including parental control options and guides. RTA Parental Control Guides
