HTTP Prefer Safe -- New Standard Header

Last week Mozilla introduced a new HTTP header that would enable sites to not send naughty content to some browsers. The goal of introducing this HTTP header is that when an operating system is set to filter adult content, the website would know not to send certain pages. If you do not know what a header is, it's not difficult to understand. It is just a little tag that is sent to a website each time you contact it. Usually, the headers explain what page you are requesting, what what kind of browser you are using.

Normally this would not be a big important news. It is possible for anyone to implement their own header at any time. Some services like phone applications communicate with servers using a set of special headers.
The big news is that Microsoft has agreed to start using the header in Internet Explorer 11. With this being implemented into the browser, it would be easier for adult sites to ensure that they are not sending content to people who do not wish to see it.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Censorship.svg

Anyone who has done web development knows that this is a huge step for Mozilla and Microsoft to agree on a standard. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 is most well known among developer communities as the browser that would not work with any standard. When Internet Explorer 6 was the most widely used web browser, developers were completely unable to work with any standard web standards. It became such an issue that there sites were protesting making sites that were compatible with the browser. As of 2014, Internet Explorer 6 is deprecated.

This is not the only HTTP header that Mozilla and Microsoft have agreed on.
In 2009 similar, but different tag was introduced, Do Not Track. Do Not Track is intended for browsers to tell web sites weather or not they want to opt into certain kinds of tracking. Microsoft and Mozilla were able to agree that the header should be sent.

These headers are not perfect. They not only rely on browsers vendors to agree that the headers should be sent, but the website operators need to agree to honor the headers. Without the cooperation between website operators, browser vendors, and consumers, these headers will not be able to work. With any one of these stakeholders agreeing to this standard, it would not have any ability to work.