In late 2019, YouTube announced a series of changes to better protect children’s privacy on YouTube and address concerns raised by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). We want to ensure parents have the necessary information to help their children have a safer and happier digital experience.
YouTube now treats personal information from anyone watching children’s content on the platform as coming from a child, regardless of the age of the user.
The following are features not available on content made for kids:
Further updated features can found by visiting the YouTube Help Centre.
Some of these features were enforced late last year, but as of 6 Jan 2020, all changes have been rolled out.
In YouTube’s blog, they mentioned: ‘According to the FTC, a video is made for kids if it is intended for kids, taking into consideration a variety of factors. These factors include the subject matter of the video, whether the video has an emphasis on kids characters, themes, toys or games, and more.’
As previously mentioned, YouTube creators will need to choose their audience setting whenever they create a video, but also YouTube will use machine learning to help identify this type of content. YouTube creators can also update an assigned audience setting made by YouTube’s systems if they believe it is incorrect; YouTube will only override a creator designation if abuse or error is detected.
YouTube says: ‘We still recommend parents use YouTube Kids if they plan to allow kids under 13 to watch independently […] We also continue to improve the product. For example, we recently launched signed-in support for YouTube Kids on the web and connected devices — such as smart TVs — so parents can now access and control their child’s YouTube Kids experience across even more surfaces.’
Learn more about YouTube kids App and how you can use the safety feature to give children the best experience
See more articles and resources to help children stay safe online.
