Do you want to control what your kids are watching on YouTube? Google introduces new parental surveillance tools
YouTube has announced the launch of a new set of parental control tools that allow parents to better control content that their children can access via the video streaming platform.
YouTube hopes parental controls will help parents slowly introduce their older children to the right content and features for their age outside the YouTube Kids app.
The new feature targets children who may have crossed the line of YouTube Kids, and the program will first be launched as an early trial, with a wider trial launch in the coming months.
YouTube divides parents' choices to restrict content that their children can watch into 3 levels of restriction to choose from:
- Level of exploration: Generally suitable for children aged 9 and above.
- More Exploration Level: Dedicated to children aged 13 and above.
- Most YouTube level: Allows almost everything except age-restricted content.
People over the age of 13 can create their own YouTube accounts without supervision, in the United States and most other countries.
It is not clear exactly what content is allowed at each level, but YouTube says, "The (exploration) level includes video blogs, tutorials, games videos, music clips, news, educational content, and more."
As the name suggests, the "Explore More" level contains a wider range of videos, as well as the live broadcasts of the previously mentioned Exploration Level.
The company adds that "the level (of most YouTube content) includes sensitive topics that may only be suitable for older teens."
And the new supervised tools still rely on user input, human review, and machine learning.
The platform realizes that it will not be perfect, while admitting that it may make some mistakes, which is what happened through the YouTube Kids application.
New parental control options should help parents who have children who feel very restricted with the YouTube Kids app, but who are more vulnerable to exposure to the full YouTube experience.
YouTube can be a dangerous place full of wrong information, so it's good to see Google give parents more tools to help make it easier for their children to get into it.
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