Under the 2019 settlement, Google agreed to work with video creators to label material aimed at kids. Kids under 13 are protected by a 1998 federal law that requires parental consent before companies can collect and share their personal information. YouTube only asks that they consider factors including the subject matter of the video, whether the video has an emphasis on kids characters, themes, toys or games, and more.” “YouTube Kids allows content creators to self-regulate. “YouTube Kids spends no time or effort determining the appropriateness of content before it becomes available for children to watch,” the letter says. This has led to a rethinking of “screen time” rules and guilt over the amount of time kids spend in front of screens, with some experts recommending that parents focus on quality, not quantity.īut lawmakers say YouTube Kids is anything but quality. The congressional investigation comes a year into the pandemic that has shuttered schools and left parents who are working from home increasingly reliant on services such as YouTube to keep kids occupied. YouTube did not immediately respond to a message for comment. But instead of basing it on kids’ online activity, it now targets it based on the videos they are watching. Instead it relies on artificial intelligence and creators’ self-regulation to decide what videos make it on to the platform, according to the letter.Īnd despite changes in the wake of the 2019 settlement, the letter notes, YouTube Kids still shows ads to children. House Oversight and Reform subcommittee on economic and consumer policy said YouTube does not do enough to protect kids from material that could harm them. In a letter sent Tuesday to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, the U.S. The inquiry comes despite Google agreeing to pay $170 million in 2019 to settle allegations that YouTube collected personal data on children without their parents’ consent. A House subcommittee is investigating YouTube Kids, saying the Google-owned video feeds children inappropriate material in “a wasteland of vapid, consumerist content” so it can serve them ads.

You tube kids