YouTube urges targeted regulation for teen safety
The Google-owned video platform has published a blog post arguing that blanket age-based account bans can be counterproductive.
YouTube is calling for pragmatism around potential 'blanket bans' and tighter age controls on young people using its video platform.
The Google company, in a blog post on Tuesday, said age-based blanket bans would have negative consequences and called for evidence-based regulation.
Leslie Miller, VP of Government Affairs & Public Policy, YouTube, said poorly designed rules remove parental choice, and push young people to use adults’ accounts or browse anonymously - and as a result strip protections from supervised tween and teen experiences.
Specifically, she cited Australia’s new law as an example where users would lose built-in safeguards as user behaviour shifts in reaction to new rules.
The company said it has invested for more than a decade with child development experts to build products such as YouTube Kids, supervised experiences for teens and tweens, and parental controls. The blog noted that 94% of teachers globally have used YouTube in their role as educators and said a recent survey found 74% of European teenagers watched videos on YouTube to learn something new for school.
YouTube instead calls for package of measures it describes as evidence-based including industry standards for parental controls, limits on specific risky features, independent child-safety input in product development, privacy-preserving age-estimation tools, clear content standards, age-appropriate settings, a ban on personalized advertising to minors, and a ban on selling children’s and teens’ personal information to third parties.
The company said it will continue its work and engagement with regulators worldwide.
The Recap
- YouTube called blanket bans on teen accounts counterproductive.
- YouTube paid more than US$100 billion over three years.
- The company will continue engagement with regulators worldwide.
