Adult content In the Virtual World and Minors: Some Startling Facts

by Guna - 2/4/2010 4745 Views

According to a report which has been published by the Federal Trade Commission, the minors can have easy access to violently explicit and sexually elaborate content in the virtual world.

According to a report which has been published by the Federal Trade Commission, the minors can have easy access to violently explicit and sexually elaborate content in the virtual world. The reason is obvious. Children can easily access the internet with or without the permission of their parents. The report has expressed concern over the increasing tendency of children to view such content. Parents are recommended to become more familiar with the ways of the virtual world and keep a watch over the sites which the children visit.

From kids to teens, everyone seems to acquire the habit of viewing the content of the site which is not permissible. According to Jon Leibowitz, who is the FTC Chairman, it is easier for the children to have easy access to the content. Now the companies should implement better methods to protect the children from viewing such content. There are 27 online virtual worlds, according to the report which are visited regularly by the children, teens and the adults. When they looked for samples, they found out that among 19 of the 27 sites at least one item is sexually explicit. If there is a measurement, heavy content is found in five sites, a moderate amount in four different worlds and a relatively low amount in 10 different worlds.

It has been noticed that almost 14 of the virtual worlds have been open to children who are under 13. The content was given the form of chat rooms so that they can be easily disguised. Most of the content appeared in text forms posted in message boards, forums or chat rooms. It was easier for the children to have access to all these texts. At least 12 of the 13 sites contained explicit content. Five of them were the worst of the lot which contained heavy content. The moderately explicit content was found in three sites and the low content was found in four worlds. Some of the content was texts, while the others looked like graphics. Sometimes, there was an accompanying audio with the texts.

The problem with most sites is that the adult content was displayed in the form of messages or forums and chat rooms. This was an easy guise and teens and children were easy target who are always keen to make new friends through chat rooms. It was virtually impossible to know that under the guise, these sites actually had dangerous content not at all fit to be viewed by children and teens. The FTC report advises parents to have a strict vigilance over the sites which the children regularly visit. They should be acquainted with the sites. Then only it is possible to know if the sites are good or not.

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