YouTube Kids May Not Be So Kid Friendly

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Google released a YouTube Kids application a few months ago that aimed to bring a censored version of YouTube to the senses of children, more specifically 5 and under. While there haven’t been many complaints with the application until this point, the Center for Digital Democracy and Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, two consumer organizations, have accessed some decidedly unsuitable content from the app that is available for kids to watch right on the application, if they know the right terms to search.

The front page of the application is plastered with suitable content, from cartoons, kid’s music, and a learning section which contains child friendly science videos and constructive tutorials on how to do creative projects. If you dig deeper, though, you will certainly be able to find some content that you may prefer your child not be exposed to. You won’t find any nudity or graphic violence, however you will be able to find content with disturbing themes as well as vulgar language. Among a few videos that were found, one was a cartoon with language such as “penis” and “fellatio,” as well as a suicide themed TED talk.

The organizations compiled a video, posted on Vimeo of course, of  a few videos the contain inappropriate content for a child 5 or younger, in fact, arguably, some of the content may not be appropriate for kids of ages nine or ten, depending on your parenting ideals.

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While this is certainly not particularly acceptable for Google, especially because the application is targeted directly at children, it is most certainly better than letting a child loose on the normal YouTube application. It also would make sense that Google’s methods of allowing or disallowing a video on the children’s application may not be perfect, but this is hopefully something that might be dealt with sooner rather than later.

For now though, if you are concerned, simply disable the ability to search:

Tap the lock at the bottom right of the application>enter the “adult verification” pin>Settings>Uncheck the “Search” checkbox. Return to the application and the “Search” option will no longer be available.

Let us know your thoughts on the finding on these consumer organizations finding’s in the comments or on social media.

[button link=”http://venturebeat.com/2015/05/18/googles-kid-friendly-app-youtube-kids-shows-some-very-grown-up-videos/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: VentureBeat[/button]

Last Updated on November 27, 2018.

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