„Xxx” denotes something as pornographic, an indication of adult-film industry output that has since spread online. Additionally, this marking denotes something particularly offensive or explicit.
The XXX movement began in the 1970s when moviemakers began using triple X’s to promote their movies. These codes have since become an industry standard.
XXX
Compuserve was one of the early commercial online services, used since the early 1980s to identify images that should not be seen by individuals under 18 as inappropriate content. Today, this extension may also be used to signify sexually explicit material.
In the 1960s, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) instituted the X rating to distinguish movies with adult-only content containing explicit language or sexual activity that should not be shown to children. Such films would typically only be shown at select cinemas while children were not permitted to view them. Movie distributors who did not submit their films to MPAA often used this mark as a marketing strategy in promoting them as particularly graphic.
Triple X’s have become a common symbol to represent sexually explicit products and services such as strip clubs and magazines, including pornographic online content. Although originally associated with alcohol beverages, their meaning has since extended to refer to pornographic online material.