YouTube Kids' current logo
YouTube Kids is a kids video site developed by YouTube, intended to provide safe access to YouTube for kids under the age of 13. It is designed to filter out explicit or adult content, as well as providing a simpler, kid-friendly layout that is easier to use.
YouTube Kids was first released to the public on February 15, 2015 for Android and iOS mobile devices, and was developed and distributed by Google LLC. It has since been released for other devices including Samsung, LG, and Sony Smart TVs. A web-based version for browsers was launched on August 30, 2019.
The site displays channels that are manually selected by YouTube, in an effort to prevent inappropriate videos disguised as children’s content (also referred to as Elsagate), that was an issue for several years.
Features[]
Basic Features[]
- Watch history: Lists the videos that all kid profiles have watched.
- Watch on TV: Allows casting to TV.
- YouTube Shorts: Shorts can be viewed through YouTube Kids, but cannot be filtered directly.
- Recommended: The recommended appears after watching 3 videos. It functions mostly like the main YouTube recommended, but only with approved videos.
Parental Controls[]
- Kid profiles: Users can create up to eight kid profiles, each with their own viewing preferences, video recommendations, and settings.
- Blocking channels: Videos or channels can be blocked to automatically remove the content from all kids’ profiles. If the profile uses the same Google Account for YouTube and YouTube Kids, any channels blocked on YouTube will also be blocked on YouTube Kids. Blocking a channel only blocks content uploaded to that specific channel. It doesn't block videos that are reuploaded on other channels, or similar channels with related content.[1]
- Search control: Search can be turned on so kids can access more videos, or off for a more contained experience.
- Timer: A timer can be set up to put limits on how long kids can use the app.
- Video reporting: Reports videos that are inappropriate for the service's age range. These reports alert YouTube immediately. The video will be sent to YouTube for fast review.[2]
- Limited Search: Search only lists 23 items at a time.
- Disabled Comments: Video comments cannot be viewed; likewise, community posts and their comments cannot be viewed either.
Controversies[]
Commercial advertising[]
YouTube Kids has been criticized by various advocacy groups, particularly the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, for concerns surrounding the app's use of commercial advertising, as well as algorithmic suggestions of videos that may be inappropriate for the app's target audience.
In response to the advert controversy, YouTube added bumpers between the content and the commercials. These bumpers lasted for a few seconds, allowing children to be able to separate them in their minds. This controversy has also lead to YouTube and Google being fined by the FTC for violating COPPA (Child Online Privacy Protection Act) after a compliant was filed in August 2019.
Elsagate[]
- Main article: Content Farms#Elsagate
The site has also been criticized for it's lack of properly filtering content that is potentially inappropriate for kids. These videos, referred to as Elsagate involved family friendly characters from literally everything that has a massive appeal such as Spider-Man doing things that are considered too much for younger viewers. YouTube started taking action against these videos in November 2017 and has since deleted many of the channels who made this sort of content as well as age restrict some of them to prevent the videos from appearing within the YouTube Kids app. Although despite this, more Elsagate content was found in late 2022 and early 2023.
Gallery[]
Logos[]
.svg "YouTube Kids 2015 (Icon).svg (32 KB)")
Screenshots[]
Other[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- If 'YouTube Kids' is searched up on the search page, it will show popular and recommended videos, much like main YouTube.
