The largest providers of regulated adult services in the UK have launched a new initiative aimed at addressing the issue of child protection from adult material. Introduced to coincide with Safer Internet Day on 5th February, www.xxxaware.co.uk offers guidance to parents on how to prevent minors accessing unsuitable videos and images online.
Prime Minister 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, xxxaware.co.uk is designed to create awareness of available parental controls on computers and connected devices, allowing parents 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, with the support of other adult firms, and it 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), 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.”
