The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) has unveiled enhancements to its RTA program, making it easier for operators to label their websites as being Restricted To Adults. The updates aim to improve the effectiveness and ease of use of the RTA meta-labeling system, which is designed to prevent children from accessing adult web pages and apps.
What Happened
The ASACP has been working on updating its RTA labeling tools for some time now. The organization's executive director, Tim Henning, highlighted the importance of the updates in a statement, saying that "RTA has a long history of industry, regulator and stakeholder acceptance due to its highly effective integration and the ease with which it strengthens parents' oversight of their children's internet activity." The new updates aim to make RTA even easier to install on a wide range of apps and websites.
The ASACP offers two ways for operators to enable RTA: by placing a meta tag in their site's HTML or by adding an HTTP response header. While both methods work well, the response header is preferred for non-HTML resources such as images and videos, and to ensure platform-wide coverage. The first method involves adding the HTML meta tag to the section of every page featuring adult content, while the second method uses an HTTP response header to cover all online content without modifying individual HTML files.
Background and Context
The ASACP has been a leading organization in promoting online child safety for over 30 years. The organization offers free child-protection resources for parents, Best Practices tailored to specific adult market segments, and a comprehensive Code of Ethics for all website and mobile app publishers. In addition, its CSAM Reporting Tipline has processed 1.3 million reports since its launch.
The RTA meta-labeling system is an anonymous, privacy-protecting technological solution that provides a perfect base layer for adding proactive child protection to any website or app. The label is free to use, voluntary, and universally available to any website that wishes to clearly label itself as inappropriate for viewing by minors.
Why it Matters to the Industry
The updates to the RTA labeling tools are significant for the adult industry because they aim to improve the effectiveness of age verification systems. The ASACP's executive director, Tim Henning, highlighted the importance of RTA in working seamlessly alongside other safety tools, saying that "RTA blocks children when parental control is present, and AV blocks kids when parental control is unavailable. It's a winning combination that protects the innocence of children along with the rights of adults."
The updates also aim to make it easier for operators to implement RTA on their websites, which can help reduce the risk of fines and penalties associated with non-compliance with age verification regulations.
What Comes Next
The ASACP has provided implementation examples across a wide range of platforms and environments, including Apache via .htaccess, Cloudflare, Hugo, IIS, Jekyll, Next.js, Nginx, PHP, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress. Bulk editing tools are also available for users with a large number of static HTML files without a CMS.
Operators can enable RTA by following the instructions provided on the ASACP's website. Once enabled, an easy Verify tool lets operators paste their site's URL into an online form to confirm that it is correctly set up. The RTA Verified program will also allow users to obtain a 'verified' badge for their platform, demonstrating that their label usage has been audited.
Key Facts
- The ASACP has updated its RTA labeling system to make it easier for operators to label their websites as being Restricted To Adults.
- There are two ways to enable RTA: by placing a meta tag in your site's HTML or by adding an HTTP response header.
- The response header is preferred for non-HTML resources such as images and videos, and to ensure platform-wide coverage.
- The ASACP offers implementation examples across a wide range of platforms and environments.
- Operators can enable RTA by following the instructions provided on the ASACP's website.
The updates to the RTA labeling tools are significant for the adult industry because they aim to improve the effectiveness of age verification systems. The ASACP's executive director, Tim Henning, highlighted the importance of RTA in working seamlessly alongside other safety tools, saying that "RTA blocks children when parental control is present, and AV blocks kids when parental control is unavailable. It's a winning combination that protects the innocence of children along with the rights of adults."
