YouTube Kids

Last updated

YouTube Kids
YouTube Kids logo.svg
Logo as of 2019
YouTube Kids on iPad Screenshot.png
Homepage screenshot
Type of site
Video hosting service
FoundedFebruary 14, 2015;9 years ago (February 14, 2015)
Headquarters901 Cherry Avenue
San Bruno, California,
United States
Area servedWorldwide (excluding blocked countries)
Owner Google
Industry
Parent Google
(through YouTube LLC)
URL www.youtubekids.com
Advertising Google AdSense
Current statusactive
Content license
Proprietary

YouTube Kids is a video app and website for children developed by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. The app provides a version of the service oriented solely towards children, with curated selections of content, parental control features, and filtering of videos deemed inappropriate for viewing by children under the age of 13, in accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits the regular YouTube app from profiling children under the age of 13 for advertising purposes. [1]

Contents

First released on February 15, 2015, as an Android and iOS mobile app, [2] the app has since been released for LG, Samsung, and Sony smart TVs, as well as for Android TV. [3] [4] On May 27, 2020, it became available on Apple TV. [5] As of September 2019, the app is available in 69 countries. [6] YouTube launched a web-based version of YouTube Kids on August 30, 2019. [7]

YouTube Kids has faced criticism from advocacy groups, particularly the Fairplay Organization, for concerns surrounding the app's use of commercial advertising, as well as algorithmic suggestions of videos that may be inappropriate for the app's target audience, as the app has been associated with a controversy surrounding disturbing and/or violent videos depicting characters from children's media franchises. Criticism over the videos led YouTube to announce that it would take more stringent actions to review and filter such videos when reported by the community, and prevent them from being accessible from within the YouTube Kids app.

Features

Content

The app is divided into four content categories; "Recommended", "Shows", "Music", and "Learning". The categories feature curated selections of content from channels deemed appropriate for children. [8] [9]

In August 2016, the app was updated to support the YouTube Red (now YouTube Premium) subscription service, allowing ad-free playback, background playback, and offline playback for subscribers. [10] In February 2017, YouTube began to introduce premium original series oriented specifically towards YouTube Kids, including DanTDM Creates a Big Scene , Fruit Ninja: Frenzy Force , Hyperlinked, and Kings of Atlantis . [11] YouTube has also presented advocacy campaigns through special playlists featured on YouTube Kids, including "#ReadAlong" (a series of videos, primarily featuring kinetic typography) to promote literacy, [12] "#TodayILearned" (which featured a playlist of STEM-oriented programs and videos), [13] and "Make it Healthy, Make it Fun" (a collaboration with Marc and Pau Gasol to promote healthy living and an active lifestyle to children). [14]

In November 2017, the app was updated to add additional user interface modes designed for different age groups, ranging from the existing simplified interface (intended for younger children) to a more dense interface designed for older children. [8]

In September 2018, YouTube added new age group options relating to the content offered in the app, "Younger" and "Older". "Younger" maintains the existing mix of content offered before, and "Older" adds more content from other genres, such as nature, gaming, and music. [15] In August 2019, the "Younger" setting was split to add a new "Preschool" group, with a focus on "creativity, playfulness, learning, and exploration". [16]

Parental controls

The YouTube Kids app features parental control settings that allow parents to limit screen time, and restrict users from accessing the search tool. Parents can use a passcode or their Google Account to protect these settings, and configure profiles for multiple users to tailor their experiences. [17] [8]

Reception

Advertising

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) both expressed concern over the use of advertising within the YouTube Kids app, arguing that children would not be able to distinguish the ads from content. Short bumpers were later added to the app to establish a separation between advertising and content. [18]

Filtering issues

The YouTube Kids app has faced criticism over the accessibility of videos that are inappropriate for its target audience. The CCFC filed an FTC complaint over YouTube Kids shortly after its release, citing examples of inappropriate videos that were accessible via the app's search tool (such as those related to wine in their testing), and the Recommended page eventually using search history to surface such videos. YouTube defended the criticism, stating that it was developed in consultation with other advocacy groups, and that the company was open to feedback over the app's operation. [19] [20] A larger YouTube controversy referred to as "Elsagate" discovered by Matan Uziel and Charlie Warzel has also been associated with the app, referring to channels which post videos featuring characters from popular franchises (especially, among others, Frozen , PAW Patrol, Thomas and Friends, Peppa Pig , and Spider-Man ), but with disturbing, sexually suggestive, violent, or otherwise inappropriate themes and content. [21]

YouTube global head of family and children's content Malik Ducard admitted that "making the app family friendly is of the utmost importance to us", but admitted that the service was not curated all the time, and that parents had the responsibility to use the app's parental controls to control how it is used by their children (including disabling access to the search tool). [22] Josh Golin, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, argued that automated algorithms were not enough to determine whether a video is age-appropriate, and that the process required manual curation. [22] He added that "the YouTube model has created something, which is so vast, but there are 400 hours of content are uploaded every minute. It's simply too big. People have been raising these issues for years, just visit any parenting forum and they’ve been talking about the fake Peppa Pig videos." [19]

In November 2017, YouTube announced that it would take further steps to review and filter videos reported by users as containing inappropriate content, including more stringent use of its filtering and age-restriction system to prevent such videos from appearing on the app and YouTube proper. [23] In an update to the YouTube Kids app that month, a more prominent disclaimer was added to its first-time setup process, stating that the service cannot fully guarantee the appropriateness of videos that were not manually curated, and informing parents of means to report and block videos that they do not find suitable. [8]

These options expanded further in 2018, with the addition of an option to restrict users to human-reviewed channels and recommendations, as well as a manual whitelisting system. [24] [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Children's Online Privacy Protection Act</span> American federal cyber law in 2000

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) is a United States federal law, located at 15 U.S.C. §§ 65016506.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parental controls</span> Software feature allowing content filtering

Parental controls are features which may be included in digital television services, computers and video games, mobile devices and software that allow parents to restrict the access of content to their children. These controls were created to assist parents in their ability to restrict certain content viewable by their children. This may be content they deem inappropriate for their age, maturity level or feel is aimed more at an adult audience. Parental controls fall into roughly four categories: content filters, which limit access to age inappropriate content; usage controls, which constrain the usage of these devices such as placing time-limits on usage or forbidding certain types of usage; computer usage management tools, which enforces the use of certain software; and monitoring, which can track location and activity when using the devices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YouTube</span> Video-sharing platform owned by Google

YouTube is an American online video sharing and social media platform owned by Google. Accessible worldwide, it was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States, it is the second most visited website in the world, after Google Search. YouTube has more than 2.5 billion monthly users, who collectively watch more than one billion hours of videos every day. As of May 2019, videos were being uploaded to the platform at a rate of more than 500 hours of content per minute, and as of 2023, there were approximately 14 billion videos in total.

KidZui was a web browser designed for children developed by KidZui, Inc. The KidZui browser used a Zooming User Interface paradigm to make browsing easier for children. Search results appeared as scaled-down images of websites, videos, and pictures that children click on to zoom in and see the content. Children can also browse by category without typing search terms. The KidZui browser did not access the open Internet. KidZui uses teachers and parents to screen content and maintains a database of approved URLs. The KidZui browser could only access URLs in the approved database. Children built avatars called Zuis to represent themselves online. They earned points for web browsing and used points to gain levels and buy clothes and accessories for their Zuis. Children could share KidZui content with friends online. To add a friend online, children needed to know the friends Zui name. There was no online directory of Zui names, so children needed to get their friends Zui names offline in order to add them. Friends also needed to be approved by parents before they become available in the browser. KidZui also tracked children's Internet usage and sends reports to their parents on what their children looked at online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Net Nanny</span>

Net Nanny is a content-control software suite marketed primarily towards parents as a way to monitor and control their child's computer and phone activity.

Flipboard is a news aggregator and social network aggregation company based in Palo Alto, California, with offices in New York, Vancouver, and Bejiing. Its software, also known as Flipboard, was first released in July 2010. It aggregates content from social media, news feeds, photo sharing sites, and other websites, presents it in magazine format, and allows users to "flip" through the articles, images, and videos being shared. Readers can also save stories into Flipboard magazines. As of March 2016 the company claims there have been 28 million magazines created by users on Flipboard. The service can be accessed via web browser, or by a Flipboard application for Microsoft Windows and macOS, and via mobile apps for iOS and Android. The client software is available at no charge and is localized in 21 languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmodo</span> Discontinued learning management system

Edmodo was an educational technology platform for K-12 schools and teachers. Edmodo enabled teachers to share content, distribute quizzes and assignments, and manage communication with students, colleagues, and parents. It was shut down on September 22, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instagram</span> Social media platform owned by Meta Platforms

Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters, be organized by hashtags, and be associated with a location via geographical tagging. Posts can be shared publicly or with preapproved followers. Users can browse other users' content by tags and locations, view trending content, like photos, and follow other users to add their content to a personal feed. A Meta-operated image-centric social media platform, it is available on iOS, Android, Windows 10, and the web. Users can take photos and edit them using built-in filters and other tools, then share them on other social media platforms like Facebook. It supports 32 languages including English, Spanish, French, Korean, and Japanese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Play</span> Digital distribution service by Google

Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store or Play Store and formerly Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating system and its derivatives, as well as ChromeOS, allowing users to browse and download applications developed with the Android software development kit (SDK) and published through Google. Google Play has also served as a digital media store, offering games, music, books, movies, and television programs. Content that has been purchased on Google Play Movies & TV and Google Play Books can be accessed on a web browser and through the Android and iOS apps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messenger (software)</span> American instant messaging app

Messenger, also known as Facebook Messenger, is an American proprietary instant messaging app and platform developed by Meta Platforms. Originally developed as Facebook Chat in 2008, the company revamped its messaging service in 2010, released standalone iOS and Android apps in 2011, and released standalone Facebook Portal hardware for Messenger calling in 2018. In April 2015, Facebook launched a dedicated website interface, Messenger.com, and separated the messaging functionality from the main Facebook app, allowing users to use the web interface or download one of the standalone apps. In April 2020, Facebook released a Messenger desktop app for Windows and macOS.

Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their recipients. The app has evolved from originally focusing on person-to-person photo sharing to presently featuring users' "Stories" of 24 hours of chronological content, along with "Discover", letting brands show ad-supported short-form content. It also allows users to store photos in a password-protected area called "my eyes only". It has also reportedly incorporated limited use of end-to-end encryption, with plans to broaden its use in the future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">23snaps</span> Social network and photo sharing service

23snaps Ltd.is a free, private social network and photos, videos, measurements and stories of their children to a digital journal and privately share those updates with other family members or close friends. 23snaps is available online and on mobile devices and launched 1 June 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Facetune</span> Mobile photo editing application

Facetune is a photo and video editing application used to edit, enhance, and retouch photos on a user's iOS or Android device created by Lightricks. The app is often used for portrait and selfie editing.

YouTube Premium is a subscription service offered by the American video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming produced in collaboration with the site's creators, downloading videos and background playback of videos on mobile devices, and access to the music streaming service, YouTube Music. It has over 100 million subscribers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YouNow</span> American live broadcasting service company

YouNow is an American live streaming broadcasting service where users stream their own live video content or interact with the video streams of other users in real time. The service is available on its website and on Android and iOS apps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messenger Kids</span> Messaging app and platform

Messenger Kids is a messaging application and platform introduced by Meta Platforms in December 2017, aimed at providing a secure alternative for a younger audience compared to the standard Messenger platform. Initially launched exclusively for iPad tablets running the iOS operating system in the United States, subsequent updates extended support to iPhone and Android devices, reaching additional markets such as Canada, Peru, and Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Likee</span> Social media short-video app

Likee is a short-video creation and sharing app, available for iOS and Android operating systems. It is owned by Singaporean tech firm Likeme Pte. Ltd., whose parent company is JOYY Inc., a international technology firm listed on NASDAQ. The founder of Likee is Jason Hu, entrepreneur from Singapore, who previously worked for JOYY.

Since its founding in 2005, the American video-sharing website YouTube has been faced with a growing number of privacy issues, including allegations that it allows users to upload unauthorized copyrighted material and allows personal information from young children to be collected without their parents' consent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Family Link</span> Family parental controls service

Google Family Link is a family parental controls service by Google that allows parents to adjust parameters for their children's devices. The application allows parents to restrict content, approve or disapprove apps, set screen times, and more. Google Family Link requires Google accounts in order to access the app remotely.

Spotify Kids is a mobile app that allows children to browse Spotify while providing their parents with parental controls. The app also includes curated content for children such as audiobooks, lullabies, and bedtime stories. Only subscribers to Spotify's Premium Family subscription plan can access the app, which has been described as a method of boosting subscriptions to the plan.

References

  1. "YouTube Kids". www.youtubekids.com. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  2. Alba, Davey (February 23, 2015). "Google Launches 'YouTube Kids,' a New Family-Friendly App". Wired. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  3. Perez, Sarah (April 25, 2017). "YouTube Kids comes to smart TVs". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  4. "Android TV app for YouTube Kids now available". Android Police. August 10, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  5. "YouTube Kids is now on Apple TV". Engadget. May 27, 2020.
  6. "System requirements and app availability for YouTube Kids – Android – YouTube Kids Parental Guide". support.google.com. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  7. "YouTube Kids launches on the web". TechCrunch. August 30, 2019. Archived from the original on January 7, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "YouTube Kids update gives kids their own profiles, expands controls". TechCrunch. November 2, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  9. "Hands On With "YouTube Kids," Google's Newly Launched, Child-Friendly YouTube App". TechCrunch. February 23, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  10. "YouTube Kids rolls out an ad-free option". TechCrunch. August 3, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  11. Perez, Sarah (February 13, 2017). "YouTube Kids gets its own original shows". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  12. "A new reading movement for YouTube Kids". Kidscreen. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  13. "YouTube Kids launches #TodayILearned campaign". Kidscreen. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  14. "YouTube Kids, Gasol brothers get healthy together" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  15. 1 2 Perez, Sarah (September 13, 2018). "YouTube Kids adds a whitelisting parental control feature, plus a new experience for tweens". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on January 7, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  16. "Ahead of FTC ruling, YouTube Kids is getting its own website". TechCrunch. August 28, 2019. Archived from the original on January 7, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  17. "YouTube Addresses Complaints About Inappropriate Content In Updated YouTube Kids App". TechCrunch. October 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  18. Skwarecki, Beth. "Is YouTube Kids Purposely Training Kids to Watch YouTube Ads?". Lifehacker. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  19. 1 2 "YouTube Kids has been a problem since 2015 — why did it take this long to address?". Polygon. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  20. "FTC asked to investigate YouTube Kids for deceptively targeting toddlers with ads". The Mercury News. April 6, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  21. "The disturbing YouTube videos that are tricking children". BBC News. March 27, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  22. 1 2 Sapna Maheshwari (November 4, 2017). "On YouTube Kids, Startling Videos Slip Past Filters". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Wikidata   Q119270203 . Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  23. "YouTube says it will crack down on bizarre videos targeting children". The Verge. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  24. "For the first time, parents will be able to limit YouTube Kids to human-reviewed channels and recommendations". TechCrunch. April 25, 2018. Archived from the original on January 7, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2019.