YouTube, Under Fire, Considers Major Changes To Kids' Content (wsj.com) 69
YouTube is considering far-reaching changes to its platform in the wake of a string of incidents that put the video-streaming powerhouse on the defensive. From a report: Executives at the Google unit are debating moving all children's content into a separate product, the stand-alone YouTube Kids app, to better protect young viewers from objectionable videos, say people briefed on the discussions. That would be a seismic and risky switch, as children's videos are among the most popular on the platform and carry millions of dollars in advertising.
Some YouTube employees are pushing for another major modification. They are encouraging the company to switch off for children's programming a feature that automatically plays a new video after one has been completed, according to the people briefed. While that default setting -- known as YouTube's recommendation system -- has helped boost audience hours to new heights, it has also opened the company up to criticism that kids and parents can select innocuous videos only to be automatically transitioned into inappropriate fare. [...] The possible changes, though still under discussion and not considered imminent, would be among the biggest ever for the platform, not least because they would require alterations to YouTube's infrastructure and significant negotiations over the boundaries of children's content.
Some YouTube employees are pushing for another major modification. They are encouraging the company to switch off for children's programming a feature that automatically plays a new video after one has been completed, according to the people briefed. While that default setting -- known as YouTube's recommendation system -- has helped boost audience hours to new heights, it has also opened the company up to criticism that kids and parents can select innocuous videos only to be automatically transitioned into inappropriate fare. [...] The possible changes, though still under discussion and not considered imminent, would be among the biggest ever for the platform, not least because they would require alterations to YouTube's infrastructure and significant negotiations over the boundaries of children's content.
a separate app is a sign of incompetence (Score:2)
Why can't Google simply present underage users with different content, without needing a different app?
(For that matter, why can't slashdot present different views for the same pages with different themes? The posting history URLs are different for mobile and desktop views.)
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"History shouldn't be rewritable."
Tell that to the alt+Left.
Because you Fox News faggots never lie? (Score:1)
https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statements/byruling/false/
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1. "In July 2010 the government said small businesses -- 60 percent -- will lose their health care, 45 percent of big business and a large percentage of individual health." Sean Hannity, Nov. 11, 2013 False
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2. "And President Obama has offered to pay out of his own pocket for the museum of Muslim culture out of his own pocket, yet it's the Republican National Committee who's paying for this." Anna Kooiman, Oct. 5, 2013 h
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"You'll never catch me, COPPA." -Google, probably, as it tracts children online anyhow
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I can confirm this is a big part of the issue.
Source: a friend who works on YouTube Kids.
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Because of the need for age-gating. It's the same reason why sites that deal with porn don't put the porn content on the same platform (hello Tumblr, Patreon), because if the porn is on the platform, it's unsafe for kids, period.
There's three age gates needed, because the ads served on kids content can not track them, they will never know if they are shown to kids or adults. So you get "youtube kids".
Regular youtube should filter the kids content and adult/nsfw/porn with "you must sign in and be 13/18+" , 1
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in which case why not just plonk the kid down in front of a kids TV channel since it's the same thing at this point
Because those tend to be behind the TV Everywhere paywall and thus available only as part of multi-channel bundles costing upwards of $480 per household per year.
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Why can't Google simply present underage users with different content, without needing a different app?
No technical reason. The simple fact is: bots do a bad job of discovering offensive content, because different people have very different ideas of "offensive" (especially the "guns" vs "sex" cultural divide). YouTube could solve this with human review of content for kids, but they're too cheap to do that.
The bots do the basics, though, and that's something. Videos with profanity are very likely to get demonetized these days, as are videos with words like "bomb" or "gun".
I'd recommend they add an opt-in "
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Yeah have something where video creators can say "this is safe for kids" and get it on the YouTube kids platform.
Channels who have a demonstrated history of posting kid-safe (or even kid-targeted) content would be able to get their content automatically allowed on YouTube Kids. (both bigger name channels like Disney and Sesame Workshop and smaller channels that aren't part of a big media organization)
That said, there is content that is 100% kid safe (and would be rated G if it was in a movie or TV) but that
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They probably can, but offering a separate App is probably easier, for Google and the End User.
Being that Kids are not old enough to enter information having an App YouTube Kids where the parents install have have the kids click on to watch their videos is easier. Then having an account for your kid, where they may change their DOB or just use your account, where the parents browsing history may be mixed into the kids favorites.
I for one will not want my kids who are under 10 to learn creative Table Saw cut
YouTube Whitelist (Score:4)
Awhile back, I had the idea of making a YouTube Whitelist product. Essentially, parents would be able to decide which YouTube channels were appropriate for their kids and which weren't. The kids would get free reign to view whatever videos that they wanted from the channels that the parents approved. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I never coded this. However, this shouldn't be too hard for Google to implement. Let parents define which channels they want their kids to see and let them go into "Kids Mode" to restrict to only those channels. (This would extend to the "recommended videos" after the video plays. No watching a scene from Sesame Street and then getting a link to a decidedly non-kid-friendly video featuring "Elmo".)
Heck, if someone wants to take my idea and run with it, feel free to do so. (Maybe give me a shout out at max.)
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This is what the Google Play Store needs as well. One tier of content that is actively curated with strict guidelines, and actual contract specified fines attached if a content provider egregiously breaks them.
The second tier would be what we have now on both the Play Store and YouTube... but devices and stuff aimed for kids would offer parents the ability to lock out the second tier, and filter the first tier as for content.
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I believe under the YouTube terms of service, such an application would be considered a violation. Other companies, including Microsoft, have attempted to provide alternative apps to the official ones and unless the app flies under YouTube's radar unnoticed they eventually shut it down. The end result is no third party interface to YouTube is ever allowed to get too popular.
Under YouTube's rules, if you want a feature such as an interface for parents to perform curation that is then enforced by the app
Simple solution (Score:3)
I set up my kid with an Android Tablet, and all the kids account stuff was great. I could control what apps are run, what time they can use the device. I can track where the device is. The only thing that was really lacking was Youtube. For kids under 13, you can only use YouTube Kids version. However, the basic thing they wanted to do was to view videos from the 5 different creators they were interested in. This would be the easiest solution. Allow parents to verify certain creators, and maybe have parents pre-authorized new videos as they are released, as sometimes the creator will go off topic or play a new game that may not be appropriate for children, and have the parents keep track of what their kids are watching.
But it wasn't just the easy solution, You couldn't follow youtubers and you couldn't get a list of videos from youtubers you were interested in.
What I did was I ended up setting up an RSS reader for each channel my kids was interested in, just so they could see the new videos being released and watch the new ones. That's all anybody needs. Follow channels, watch videos. Parents approve channels and/or individual videos for their kids. It's not that difficult.
simpler solution (Score:2)
How about a button that just says "I'm under 18, just take me straight to the porn since I'm gonna get there anyhow".
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Personally I am less concerned about porn than I am about anti-intellectualism, conspiracy and extremist political shit.
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How about a button that just says "I'm under 18, just take me straight to the porn since I'm gonna get there anyhow".
The current moral panic is around pre-pubescent children, who aren't going to jump through hoops to get to porn. YouTube isn't really where anyone looks for porn in the first place. This is more about content that might be OK for teens, but not for 5-year-olds.
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That's all anybody needs. Follow channels, watch videos. Parents approve channels and/or individual videos for their kids. It's not that difficult.
I absolutely agree this is the kind of thing that the platform should have. However, what Alphabet really wants is for your child to watch as many videos as possible, and this is not conducive to that.
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For YouTube to be competitive they need to be like the Disney channel, i.e. something parents can rely on without any effort.
Google just needs to employ people to manually check every video applying to be on YouTube Kids, and trusted commercial partners would be exempt anyway.
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Yep, that's pretty much all that is needed. Select the YouTube channel(s) that your kid is authorized to see and that's all they get. YouTube can still auto-play, but just through those channels. It's sorta like...um...television. Kids can watch PBS all day long, but no Cinemax.
Also they need a checkbox that the parent clicks something to the effect of "I stipulate that I am a bad parent for just letting Google Copr. of all things babysit my kids for hours on end instead of letting them play outside or
BBC iPlayer Kids (Score:2, Insightful)
Hi. As a parent of 3 young kids, I spend a lot of time curating the content my kids are allowed to access.
Youtube is terrible as one nice kids video of animals singing the alphabet quickly auto-switches to a lion killing a wilder-beast or a lot worse. The autoplay adverts are sometimes also extreme and inappropriate.
In the UK, BBC iplayer provides excellent streamed TV for all ages. They have a special kids version which is perfect as I don't have to check all the contents (it's very good, honestly).
I am
Download videos (Score:1)
Personally I just download the videos I think my kids would enjoy and only allow them to view the content offline. Any content they experience is offline unless it's a video call with family.
They can't read or type yet, and when they get to that point I'll evaluate other options. Perhaps their own access point with a whitelist to approved sites that don't have user created content.
Christian Evil Doers spreading antivaxx propoganda (Score:1)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/meet-the-new-york-couple-donating-millions-to-the-anti-vax-movement/2019/06/18/9d791bcc-8e28-11e9-b08e-cfd89bd36d4e_story.html
No Kid Friendly Internet (Score:2)
The Internet isn't for kids.
It doesn't have to be that drastic (Score:2)
There are so many things NOT in place that are basically on every other platform everywhere else.
My number one request is the ability to block a user. Not the worthless ability that just blocks them from commenting on your own videos. Why can't I block their channel from appearing in my search results and recommended videos? No, instead, when I find something inappropriate, I have to go play the video, then go through the recommended list and select "not interested" and "train" YouTube. I can't go to the us
Here's a Remarkable and Innovative Idea (Score:2)
How about you keep your kids off of the f**king internet until they're at least 10?
That means no internet access, supervised access to a DESKTOP for computer games (internet blocked at the router level) and absolutely no smartphones until they're 16 and driving.
Then when they turn 10, you keep supervised internet access on that desktop in a family common area. Once they get to high school you can debate getting a laptop for their room for school work because at that point they'll figure out how to get aroun
A basic start would be just.... (Score:1)
Just do SOMETHING! Ignoring it obviously hasn't been the best strategy to date.
No controls for parents to curate what children se (Score:1)
Autoplay (Score:1)
...is one of the most annoying features of youtube.
What's to stop kids (Score:2)
Inaxbm (Score:1)