SMS and Adult Content

It is common knowledge that the Adult industry is thriving on the web. What may be surprising to some is that the same Adult industry is also generating significant revenues from mobile services, mainly in Europe, where adult services such as chat, adult content downloads, and now increasingly video downloads and streaming are booming. Many of the European carriers have set up separate 'adult only' short codes and are putting in place strict age verification mechanisms to prevent minors from getting access to these services.

So, how about the US ?

The short answer is simple: none of the US carriers allow adult services on their networks. This means:
- No adult content of any sort.
- No adult advertising of any sort.
- No advertising in 'adult context'.

It is very important to understand that carriers enforce a strict zero-tolerance policy. This means that if you are caught violating any of these standards, your short code will be terminated without warning.

Two of our customers recently experienced the carrier's wrath and saw their short codes terminated:
- Carrier A cancelled a short code after discovering that some of the chat content contained language of adult nature. Because the service was an operator chat service, the carrier held the customer responsible for such content and terminated the short code.
- Carrier B cancelled a short code after discovering that the chat service was being promoted as an adult service. The company's web site contained banners saying 'adult chat' and 'hot steamy gay chat'. Even though the actual content of the chat service proved to be innocent, the short code was terminated.

What's next for adult on cell phones ?

The key reason for the carrier's zero tolerance policy is the fact that there is no good way for carriers to validate the age of the consumer. Carriers and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) are discussing ways to implement an age verification system to allow adult services to be offered to consumers. Expect more on this topic early next year.