Following much criticism over inappropriate videos on YouTube Kids, owner Google has announced plans to launch more safety options in the app. Parents will soon be able to refine content to human-curated channels.
YouTube Kids relies mostly on algorithms to filter videos. YouTube has long defended this approach: Malik Ducard, global head of family and learning content, told the New York Times that the unsuitable content was “the extreme needle in the haystack,” adding that “making the app family friendly is of the utmost importance to us.”
Meanwhile, on Google Play, YouTube tells its customers:
We use a mix of filters, user feedback and human reviewers to keep the videos in YouTube Kids family friendly. But no system is perfect and inappropriate videos can slip through, so we’re constantly working to improve our safeguards and offer more features to help parents create the right experience for their families.
Google has so far basically defended its methods, disregarding the scale and the implications of the problem. If you still need convincing of what is at stake, read James Bridle’s shocking article that went viral late last year soon after the NYT piece referenced above.
Following that period of intense media scrutiny, YouTube responded in November with commitments to “toughen its approach”. But the measures didn’t go far enough, and later proved ineffective.
The wider tech backlash
The YouTube scandal comes at a time of increasing pressure on internet companies. Be it for enabling fake news, use of personal data, or links to mental illness, firms are under fire. The standards to which tech giants are held are changing rapidly as the impacts of technology use on society become clearer.
These companies have been forced to respond. Mark Zuckerberg — who was subject to two days of congressional testimony over the Cambridge Analytica controversy — has promised to make Facebook a safer place.
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, now has a “Wellbeing Team” dedicated to making sure it is a “place where users feel good” — reportedly a top priority for the platform.
Next month, GDPR — new rules aiming to protect consumers’ data privacy — comes into force in Europe.
There is a growing view that the tide is turning for the tech giants.
Moving in the right direction
In a BBC article this week that also featured an interview with magikbee’s CEO Hugo Ribeiro, children’s presenter Ed Petrie asked, “Why are these features only an option?”
That is a fair question and criticism of YouTube’s latest move, and I would agree that the filter should probably be a default setting rather than an opt-in. Some kids will still end up seeing inappropriate videos, because not all parents will be aware of the risk or that they can adjust the filters in the settings section of the app.
And while this is a positive step from YouTube, serving as recognition that the previous way of filtering was not good enough alone, only by removing the algorithmic selection system completely — as we have done in our teacher-moderated video app, kiddZtube — can we be sure that kids will be completely safe.
Nonetheless, public pressure is pushing YouTube in the right direction, and we can take consolation in the fact that these new features will save many young eyes from the horrors of an unregulated internet.
