With the abundance of websites online, and the continued use of social media and social networks to market adult sites in the mainstream market, it’s important to note that there are adjustments that must be made. With that in mind, the ASACP has issued a press release noting what it considers the Best Practices for Social Media for the industry:
The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) has released Best Practices for Social Media. ASACP’s Best Practices were developed to help businesses maximize their ability to stop online child pornography and to help parents prevent their children from unknowingly viewing age-restricted content on the world-wide web.
According to Pew Internet Research, nearly three quarters (73%) of online teens and an equal number (72%) of young adults use social network sites. You can see the research here.
“Since children’s use of social media network sites are continuing to increase and the adult industry continues to lead in the use of technology, it is important for ASACP to consistently update its Best Practices” stated ASACP CEO Joan Irvine. “Granted there are no perfect solutions, but ASACP’s Best Practices are the best tools available to protect children and your company. We encourage everyone, whether they are an ASACP member or not, to review them regularly at the website.”
Social Media Best Practices• Label all sexually explicit ‘social media content postings’, including but not limited to text, video, audio, images or widgets enabling any software functionality.
• All social media content postings should indicate “Age-Restricted” or “Sexually Explicit” based on the content.
• When you direct people to age-restricted content or commerce on or from online social networks & mobile devices, ensure that all of your social media and mobile pages, from blogs, ads, and ecommerce tools, to videos, fan pages, apps and widgets are labeled with the Restricted to Adults – RTA website label.
Irvine added “As a result, if parents or guardians have activated one of the many parental filters including those in the Apple and Microsoft operating systems, minors will be blocked from access to and prevented from the ability to purchase age-restricted material and products.”
Founded in 1996, ASACP is a non-profit organization dedicated to online child protection. ASACP comprises of two separate corporate entities, the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection and the ASACP Foundation. The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. ASACP manages a membership program that provides resources to companies in order to help them protect children online. The ASACP Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The ASACP Foundation battles child pornography through its CP Reporting Hotline and helps parents prevent children from viewing age-restricted material online with its Restricted To Adults – RTA Website Label. ASACP is the only association in the world that coordinates the adult entertainment industry’s efforts to protect children online. It has spent over 14 years creating progressive programs to protect children. ASACP’s relat ionship in assisting the adult industry’s child protection efforts is unparalleled. Companies and individuals interested in supporting ASACP may go to www.asacp.org for more information on how to get involved.
The ASACP is a great organization that helps protect children. I truly feel that as those in the business of entertaining adults, we have to keep in mind that our entertainment is not meant for children – and we should participate in making sure that our entertainment is kept only for adults. As a non-profit entity, the ASACP depends on donations and participation to keep itself running. Please, if you have an adult site, use the RTA label. To donate, please go here.
