YouTube's kid-friendly app now requires strict parental guidance as users are constantly complaining about violent and inappropriate content, that is trying to convince their kids for self-harm and sexual exploitation.
The platform was introduced as the best kids-friendly choice for concerned parents. YouTube even promised to promote content that would only include fun and learning categories while providing a ‘child-safe’ environment online. But it seems like the company hasn’t been able to stay up to their commitment, lately.
A recent report by Dr. Free N. Hess, mother and pediatrician, claims that videos promoting suicide and human abuse have popped up twice on YouTube Kids. A user named “Filthy Frank” (youtu.be/uK1SpTYYLwM) gives dangerous instructions to kids in the middle of videos related to Nintendo game Splatoon. The man wants kids to follow his gestures of cutting the forearm properly, “Remember kids, sideways for attention, longways for results. End it.”
Hess immediately decided to inform the internet community about it via her blog and even warned other parents to keep a strict eye on what their kids are watching.
YouTube's policy is pretty straightforward when it comes to dealing with such disturbing content; viewers can flag the video which brings it under human moderator’s attention, who then review it thoroughly to decide if the video needs to be deleted or not.
But this is not enough to solve the issue. The process is extremely long and it gives enough time to the reported content for creating its impact. Before reporting, even Hess also figured out from the complaints in comments section, that the particular video was almost eight months old already.
Apart from advocating suicide, there have been instances where videos on the platform displayed aggressive acts of violence, even as being a part of entertainment. One of such examples were found in clips about popular game Minecraft, where characters were using adult language and had a low-resolution scene of a school shooting.
There is indeed a long way to go for YouTube, if they want to provide a safe environment to children online. For that, they will have to tweak their moderator’s system even more. But till then, it again depends on parental guidance, which is required more than ever now.
The platform was introduced as the best kids-friendly choice for concerned parents. YouTube even promised to promote content that would only include fun and learning categories while providing a ‘child-safe’ environment online. But it seems like the company hasn’t been able to stay up to their commitment, lately.
A recent report by Dr. Free N. Hess, mother and pediatrician, claims that videos promoting suicide and human abuse have popped up twice on YouTube Kids. A user named “Filthy Frank” (youtu.be/uK1SpTYYLwM) gives dangerous instructions to kids in the middle of videos related to Nintendo game Splatoon. The man wants kids to follow his gestures of cutting the forearm properly, “Remember kids, sideways for attention, longways for results. End it.”
Hess immediately decided to inform the internet community about it via her blog and even warned other parents to keep a strict eye on what their kids are watching.
YouTube's policy is pretty straightforward when it comes to dealing with such disturbing content; viewers can flag the video which brings it under human moderator’s attention, who then review it thoroughly to decide if the video needs to be deleted or not.
But this is not enough to solve the issue. The process is extremely long and it gives enough time to the reported content for creating its impact. Before reporting, even Hess also figured out from the complaints in comments section, that the particular video was almost eight months old already.
Apart from advocating suicide, there have been instances where videos on the platform displayed aggressive acts of violence, even as being a part of entertainment. One of such examples were found in clips about popular game Minecraft, where characters were using adult language and had a low-resolution scene of a school shooting.
There is indeed a long way to go for YouTube, if they want to provide a safe environment to children online. For that, they will have to tweak their moderator’s system even more. But till then, it again depends on parental guidance, which is required more than ever now.
