23 Child Advocacy Groups Find YouTube ILLEGALLY Spying On and Tracking Kids as Young as 6

By Matt Agorist

As YouTube cracks down on peaceful channels, censors alternative media, and allows child exploitation videos  to flourish, a coalition of 23 child advocacy group has come forward  with damning claims against Google’s behemoth video hosting site. Citing  multiple violations of child protection laws, the coalition has filed a  complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission to expose them. The coalition is made up of groups including the Campaign for a  Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), the Center for Digital Democracy and  21 other organizations. 

Within their complaint, the coalition alleges  that despite Google claiming YouTube is only for children 13-years-old  and over—it knows younger children use the site and it targets  them—illegally. According to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”),  it is illegal for any operator of a website or online service or a  portion thereof that is directed to children, or that has actual  knowledge that it collects information from children, from collecting,  using or disclosing personal information from a child unless the  operator gives parents notice of its data collection practices and  obtains verifiable parental consent before collecting the data. 

However, according to the complaint filed by the coalition, Google is knowingly violating this law. According to the complaint: 

YouTube also has actual knowledge that many children are on YouTube, as evidenced by
disclosures from content providers, public statements by YouTube  executives, and the creation of the YouTube Kids app, which provides  additional access to many of the children’s channels on YouTube. YouTube  even encourages content creators to create children’s programs for  YouTube. Through the YouTube Partner Program, YouTube and creators split  revenues from advertisements served on the creators’ videos. YouTube’s  privacy policy discloses that it collects many types of personal  information, including geolocation, unique device identifiers, mobile  telephone numbers, and persistent identifiers used to recognize a user  over time and across different websites or online services. YouTube  collects this information from children under the age of 13, and uses  it to target advertisements, without giving notice or obtaining  advanced, verifiable parental consent as required by COPPA.

The coalition is now asking that the FTC step in and investigate the internet giant for these violations. “For years, Google has abdicated its responsibility to kids and  families by disingenuously claiming YouTube — a site rife with popular  cartoons, nursery rhymes, and toy ads — is not for children under 13,”  said Josh Golin, executive director of the CCFC, as reported by the  Guardian. “Google profits immensely by delivering ads to kids and must  comply with Coppa. 

It’s time for the FTC to hold Google accountable for its illegal data collection and advertising practices.” 

Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy said, “Google has  acted duplicitously by falsely claiming in its terms of service that  YouTube is only for those who are age 13 or older, while it deliberately  lured young people into an ad-filled digital playground. 

“Just like Facebook, Google has focused its huge resources on generating profits instead of protecting privacy.” 

As the Guardian reports,  the complainants state that among the most popular channels on YouTube  are those directed at children, including ChuChuTV Nursery Rhymes &  Kids Songs with 15.9m subscribers and more than 10bn video views and  LittleBabyBum with 14.6m subscribers and 14bn views.

 The coalition also  states that Google’s Preferred advertising platform includes a  “parenting and family” lineup in which major advertisers pay a premium  to place ads. 

After the report on the complaint was published, YouTube issued a  statement claiming that they have yet to receive it, but noted that  protecting children is a top priority. 

“While we haven’t received the complaint, protecting kids and  families has always been a top priority for us. We will read the  complaint thoroughly and evaluate if there are things we can do to  improve. Because YouTube is not for children,  we’ve invested significantly in the creation of the YouTube Kids app to  offer an alternative specifically designed for children.” 

However, as TFTP has reported numerous times, children are the last  ones YouTube appears to be concerned with, instead targeting those who’d  dare challenge the status quo. As The Free Thought Project first reported in June of 2017, comedian Daniel Tosh raised concerns with objectionable content found on YouTube. 

Tosh revealed how the “Seven Super Girls”  channel—while it is geared to teenage content creators—likely also  serves as eye candy for pedophiles looking to indulge in streaming  videos of real kids in compromising situations. The channel remains  active and unrestricted.

 As artist and writer James Bridle noted in an article last year,  detailing the vast industry of low-quality, algorithmically-guided  children’s content created for youtube: “Someone or something or  some combination of people and things is using YouTube to  systematically frighten, traumatize, and abuse children, automatically  and at scale, and it forces me to question my own beliefs about the  internet, at every level.” 

Indeed, as this complaint alleges, YouTube may very well be complicit in that exploitation. 

---

 We are the Free Thought Project — a hub for Free Thinking conversations about the promotion of liberty and the daunting task of government accountability. All of our content was created by our team of artists and writers. Learn more about us on our website thefreethoughtproject.com.