Following the furore about YouTube Kids allowing horror and troubling videos to get past its filters on an app designed primarily for youngsters, Google has tightened the leash around the kid-friendly platform.
While the algorithmic fiasco allowed some nefarious YouTubers to attempt to slip inappropriate content into the designated kid-friendly streams, such creators will have a harder time getting viewers and monetization.
Google's leash around kid-friendly content includes: Stricter control, understanding context, and Comment patrol on videos of kids.
Stricter control: Now excludes “content with family entertainment characters but containing mature themes or adult humor.” And content featuring minors that may be endangering a child, even if that was not the uploader’s intent” according to Google.
Understanding context: As YouTube grows it has doubled the number of Trusted Flaggers to better track who is behind a video, which in most cases, even a spooky educational content doesn’t really qualify as such. For instance, Dora the Explorer's sexy cosplay, which though the original theme pertains to kids educational programming, but denotes an erotic extension not appropriate for kids.
Comment Patrol on Kids video: This emphasizes on videos with inappropriate comments about the kids in them, in which case Google will have the comments turned off altogether.
Google hopes the measures will go a long way in curbing the growing infiltration of inappropriate contents on YouTube Kids, though, it claims such contents are just a tiny fraction of YouTube Kids’ universe.
