Los Angeles, CA (September 14, 2010) -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. http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Media-and-Young-Adults.aspx

“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 http://www.asacp.org/index.php?content=best_practices.”

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 (http://rtalabel.org).

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 relationship 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.