YouTube isn’t for kids, but its kid videos rock
Even though YouTube discourages children under the age of 13 from trawling its vast video library, content targeted at and featuring children under that age is among the most popular on the platform, according to a new study.
Videos appearing to appeal to viewers under 13 drew larger audiences and were posted by channels with more subscribers than content aimed at teen or adult audiences, despite only making up a small percentage of the total videos posted, the Pew Research Center found.
The findings appear at odds with YouTube’s explicit policy stating that its site is not for users under 13. They also come at a time of increased scrutiny for the company, as the FTC investigates YouTube’s handling of children’s content on its site.
The Pew study looked at data from YouTube channels with at least 250,000 subscribers during the first week of the year. The researchers found that, while only 2 per cent of videos posted featured children under 13, these videos averaged three times as many views as other content. Videos that appeared to target children averaged 65 per cent more views compared to those aimed at other audiences. YouTube did not comment on the methods used by Pew, but a representative for the company said generally “the most popular video categories tend to be areas like comedy, music, sports and ‘how to.’ And we have always been clear YouTube has never been for people under 13.”
Josh Golin, executive director at the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said the findings are further evidence that YouTube isn’t taking seriously laws that protect the privacy of young people.
“What you have now is YouTube, the most popular site in the world for children, very disingenuously claiming that it’s not a children’s site,” said Golin. “They’ve been playing this game for years.”