UPDATED 22:09 EDT / FEBRUARY 24 2021

POLICY

YouTube will introduce supervised content for tweens and teens

Google LLC-owned YouTube announced today that it’s rolling out a new feature aimed at youngsters too old for YouTube Kids.

For years YouTube met with criticism after it was revealed young children were watching content that was adult in nature. The company has since introduced a dedicated kids’ channel and also created policies to protect children’s privacy. YouTube has now gone a step further, creating a kind of system for not-so-young children who might want to explore more content.

“In 2015, we created YouTube Kids, a safer destination for kids to explore their interests while providing parental controls,” YouTube said in a blog post. “But since then, we’ve heard from parents and older children that tweens and teens have different needs, which weren’t being fully met by our products.”

In the coming months, YouTube will roll out a supervised version of YouTube in beta test that parents can control. The first feature is called “Explore” and will be available to children aged nine or older. YouTube said the content will consist of vlogs, tutorials, gaming videos, music clips, news and educational content.

If parents are content with what their children are watching, they can switch the setting which will open up more content. This setting is called “Explore More” and is aimed at children who are 13 or over. This is almost akin to an unlock key in gaming, with kids being able to watch a wider variety of content that will also include live streams.

The last level is called “Most of YouTube,” which opens up everything except for content that is age-restricted. It will include videos that are deemed “sensitive” and should probably only be watched by older teens.

Given the incredibly large number of new videos that appear on YouTube every day, what kind of content fits into each category may not always please parents. YouTube said it will use machine learning technology and user input to assess content, although it admitted that at first there will be some mistakes.

Nonetheless, parents will have more control than just choosing the content setting. YouTube said they can also manage watch and search history and limit screen time. Kids will not see personalized ads and they will also not be able to comment on videos – often a wasp’s nest in itself.

“With availability in over 80 countries, now over 35 million viewers use YouTube Kids every week,” said YouTube. “We’ll continue expanding product availability, adding new features, and offering several new parental tools, such as a highly requested option for parents to select specific videos and channels from the main YouTube platform that they’d like their child to explore on YouTube Kids.”

Photo: Svante Adermark/Flickr

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