YouTube has announced a new feature that aims to prevent kids from encountering negative comments on the platform. In an email sent to parents who supervise their child’s YouTube account, the company unveiled a “read-only” comments option for the child’s supervised experience on the platform. The change is part of YouTube’s ongoing efforts to enhance parental control features and create a more child-friendly environment on the site.
The new feature will be available in the “coming weeks” and applies to two of the three content settings available to parents: “Explore More” and “Most of YouTube.” The former allows children to explore videos with content ratings for viewers aged 13 and up, while the latter offers older kids access to most of the platform’s content, excluding videos that are specifically age-restricted for adults only. Under both of these content settings, children will be able to read comments but will not have the ability to write or engage in live chat.
These changes mark one of the biggest adjustments to YouTube’s parental control features since the platform introduced increased protections for minors in 2021. The decision to implement these changes comes in response to pressure from lawmakers and increasing concerns about the negative influence of YouTube’s comments section on young viewers.
To further tailor the YouTube experience for younger children, parents can choose to disable comments entirely by switching their child to the “Explore” setting, which is intended for viewers aged 9 and up. This option serves as a transition between the YouTube Kids app, designed for younger children, and the main YouTube platform.
Parents can easily view and adjust their child’s settings from the parent settings on YouTube or Google’s Family Link parental controls app. They can also access their child’s viewing history through the My Activity setting on the child’s device. It is worth noting that the selected YouTube settings will only apply when the child is directly using the YouTube site or app and may not apply when viewing embedded YouTube content on third-party sites.
YouTube’s proactive approach to implementing these parental control features aligns with the growing demand for stricter regulations to protect children online. Tech companies have faced mounting pressure from Congress to take more responsibility for the potential negative impacts of their platforms on young users. While there have been calls for new legislation to enforce stricter guidelines, YouTube is taking the initiative to introduce these protections voluntarily.
In recent years, Congress has been pressuring tech companies to do more to ensure the safety of children online. The Kids Online Safety Act and the proposed COPPA 2.0 are two initiatives gaining bipartisan support. These acts aim to enhance parental controls, increase data protections, safeguard privacy, and ban targeted advertising directed at children and adolescents.
YouTube’s decision to implement read-only comments by default is a proactive measure that demonstrates the platform’s willingness to address concerns even before any regulations are in place. By incorporating these changes into its parental control platform, YouTube is actively working to create a safer space for young viewers.
This is not the first time that YouTube has taken steps to enhance safety for young users. In 2021, the platform introduced parental controls and followed up with several product updates in November 2023 to make YouTube safer for teenagers. These updates included limits on repeated viewing of certain topics and new features like “take a break” and “bedtime” reminders.
While YouTube has informed parents about the read-only comments feature via email, the company is yet to make a public announcement on its official blog. Therefore, the full details and implications of these changes have not been disclosed to the wider public. Requests for comment from YouTube have not been answered, leaving some questions unanswered about the practical implementation and effectiveness of this new feature.
In conclusion, YouTube’s decision to introduce a read-only comments option for its child-supervised experience is a significant step in making the platform safer for young users. By defaulting comments to read-only mode, YouTube is mitigating potential harm that kids may encounter in the comments section. The platform’s continuous efforts to enhance parental controls and increase child safety align with the growing demand for stricter regulations in the tech industry. While it remains to be seen how effective these changes will be in practice, YouTube’s proactive approach sets a positive precedent for other platforms to follow suit in prioritizing child safety online.
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