platform for Internet content selection (PICS)

The development of Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) should be seen against the background of the all-encompassing control of the Internet and the censorship of websites by state authorities.

The PICS platform is used to classify and certify the content of content provider( CP) websites. The certification of the content by an independent authority ensures comparability of the content, for example with regard to content harmful to minors. The PICS certification is entered into the pages in the form of an HTML code. The user can make his own classification into levels on the basis of the profile and thus, via an appropriately activated web browser, display only those pages that represent the desired levels. For this purpose, the user can configure PICS-capable browsers and filter programs himself, which read and decode the metatags describing the content. The program then decides what to do with the website. The classification takes place in five levels, and differentiates with regard to violent and sexual depictions.

With this technique, children can be protected from violent and sexual depictions, but also from textual and linguistic statements.