YOUTUBE has dished out new settings for parents to help protect their kids from dodgy content online.
The Google-owned tech giant has made two big changes that all parents need to look out for.
YouTube has a staggering viewership of more than 2.7 billion users.
And the insiders behind the 20-year-old video site say that “hundreds of millions” are using “supervised kid and teen accounts”.
These are special protected accounts that have certain limitations, and can be managed by parents.
The first big change is that parents can now set special limits on the app for YouTube Shorts.
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Shorts is YouTube’s vertical short-form video feed, which functions a lot like TikTok or Instagram Reels.
You can now set a zero-limit for how much time they can spend scrolling.
So YouTube says that you can have it set at zero when you want a teen to focus on homework, and then 60 minutes to keep them entertained “during a long car trip”, for example.
And you can also set Bedtime and Take a Break reminders, which are switched on by default.
“We believe in protecting kids in the digital world, not from the digital world,” said YouTube’s health global head Dr Garth Graham.
“That’s why providing effective, built-in tools is so essential.
“As parents play a critical role in setting the rules for their family’s online experiences.”
The second change is that parents can now very easily set up kids or teen accounts on the YouTube mobile app in “just a few taps”.
The new sign-up process makes it extremely easy for a parent to create a new child account.
And you can switch between family accounts in the mobile app, a bit like Netflix profiles.
“Today, hundreds of millions of viewers are now using our supervised kid and teen accounts each month,” Dr Garth explained.
“Or are benefiting from the protections we automatically apply to teens.
“After feedback from parents and guidance from independent experts, we’re equipping families with even more tools and protections that are right for them.
“This builds on a decade of investments to create a healthy experience for young people on YouTube.”
“And in the digital age, the content teens encounter online can have both positive and negative impacts,” said Professor Fonagy, who heads Psychology and Language Science at UCL, which partnered with YouTube on its recent changes.
On top of that, Google has also dished out a new set of teen content “principles”.
It’s meant to make it easier for YouTube creators to make videos for youngsters that are age-appropriate.
“The mental health of children and young people is a global concern,” said Professor Peter Fonagy, of UCL.
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“These YouTube Teen Quality Principles give creators a practical, research-informed roadmap.
“For making videos that are developmentally appropriate, emotionally safe, and genuinely supportive of young people.”
