The UK adult industry has launched a new initiative aimed at addressing the issue of child protection from adult material.
To coincide with Safer Internet Day yesterday (5th February), the largest providers of regulated adult services in the UK will launch www.xxxaware.co.uk offering guidance to parents on how to prevent minors accessing unsuitable videos and images online.
David Cameron recently abandoned plans for an automatic online block on adult content, calling instead for more to be done to support and inform parents about the risks to children.
In response to this and to Claire Perry’s campaign for better protection from adult material for under 18s, the UK adult industry is setting a landmark precedent with xxxaware.co.uk by creating awareness of available parental controls on computers and connected devices. Finally parents will be able to make informed and intelligent decisions about their family’s viewing.
The website will give advice and guidance on controlling everyday household gadgets which now connect to the internet – from the family computer, touch screen tablets, smart phones and games consoles to TV set top boxes. xxxaware.co.uk aims to point parents to the tools available to control their kids’ access to the web. Over time the site will develop its own easy step-by-step guides to implementing age-appropriate controls. It will offer reviews of effectiveness of the different solutions and share parents’ experiences of installing and using those products on a day-to-day basis.
The site has been developed by adult broadcaster Portland TV and has the support of the UK adult industry.xxxaware.co.uk will give parents the choice, control and confidence to judge what is right for their children without affecting the civil liberties and access to content for others.
The online resource is edited by TV producer Anna Kieran who has worked in the adult business since 1997.She was a founding member of the Adult Industry Trade Association (AITA) set up to give the UK adult industry a voice and representation following the regulatory change in BBFC’s R18 guidelines in 2000. She is the mother of two young children and passionate about educating parents about online child protection.
In her mission statement Kieran says,“xxxaware.co.uk believes that the best protection for our children from adult materials is through educating parents. By creating a dialogue within the adult industry and launching this site, it is hoped that the uptake of available parental controls can be increased so that adults can continue to access the content they want without risk to children and without heavy-handed government intervention.”