The YouTube Kids app shows videos that promote inappropriate topics for its age targets, including drug use and the use of firearms, according to an investigation by the Tech Transparency Project , a US-based non-profit organization. .
According to the investigation published by the British newspaper, The Guardian , on Thursday, May 5, 2022, YouTube Kids, which was launched in 2015, is supposed to be “highly organized and secure.” Because it targets children under the age of 13.
In previous statements, the platform’s management says that it seeks to make the content of the videos suitable for children, and that it relies on its programs, engineers, and “reviews and comments from parents” to protect children from content that is inappropriate for their ages.
Despite these efforts, the platform’s management said: “There is no perfect system, and inappropriate videos can be leaked” and watched by children, but achieving technical transparency confirmed that the “system” adopted by the YouTube administration is “really far from perfect.”
According to the investigation project, the researchers discovered several videos that should not bypass the filters of YouTube’s owner, Google.
The investigation also revealed other videos that may negatively affect children’s health, including those related to “skin whitening” and “weight loss.”
“We weren’t expecting to find the variety of inappropriate content that we did find,” said Katie Paul, Tech Transparency Project Manager.
As Katie Ball added, “The most shocking thing for me personally is watching a lot of drug-related content.”
