Children drowning in diet of junk content online

Experts say kids’ welfare is being risked

Children are being swamping by the visual equivalent of “pizza and sweets” in “a digital Wild Wild West”, some of the world’s top kids television programme makers have warned.

With YouTube replacing Disney as the most-loved brand among young children in the US, and streaming giants encouraging binge viewing, a whole generation risk being brought up on cultural junk food, they say.

Public service broadcasters like Britain’s BBC and PBS in the US are some of the last ramparts “looking out for kids and parents” in an industry where internet giants and toy and games makers increasingly hold sway, a gathering of top executives at Cannes.

Several speakers at the MIPJunior, the world’s top children’s entertainment market, warned that kids’ welfare is being risked by their exposure to unsuitable content.

Tiphaine de Raguenel, of France 4, said: “If you want children to love vegetables, it is very difficult to do so if all they are surrounded by is pizza and sweets.”