YouTube announces new parental controls for teen accounts
New supervision features on YouTube are being rolled out globally to allow parents and guardians to link their accounts to their teen's and monitor uploads, subscriptions and comments
If you're constantly worried about what your teen is accessing or uploading on YouTube and how it might be affecting their mental and physical health, then the latest news from the video sharing website will be music to your ears. YouTube has just announced (4 September 2024) brand new controls that will allow parents to link their own YouTube account to their teenager's account and keep tabs on what channels they're subscribing to, the comments they're making and how many uploads they've made.
Both parents and children will receive emails to flag key activity on the site, such as when a video is uploaded across YouTube and YouTube Shorts (even if they're private or unlisted) or when a new live stream is being watched. It is hoped that the new controls will allow parents to have a better understanding of what their teenager is getting up to on the site, as well as encourage teenagers to create and watch content appropriate for their age.
Parents can link the two accounts in YouTube's Family Centre area and will also have access to resources aimed to help them guide teenagers on safe and sensible content creation. However, the new controls don't allow parents to tell YouTube their teen's real age, as the platform still defers to the age entered when the account was set up, and they won't be able to influence what content their teenager is served up by the video sharing site.
The new feature also works on a "mutual control" basis, which means both teens and parents have the ability to turn off the supervision whenever they want to. These new parental controls build on existing tools already in place for tweens, and YouTube has said more controls may be added in the future.
Still worried about the content your teen might be watching? When it comes to what teens are encouraged to view, YouTube has made some changes here too. The site has also just announced that it is adjusting the algorithm to limit the amount of videos 13 – 17 year olds see about weight loss and appearance. This is to help them avoid going down a "rabbit hole" of potentially harmful content that idealises specific fitness levels, body weights or physical features. The new restrictions also apply to videos that display social aggression and makeup tutorials that promote the changing of facial features, as well as fitness videos that promote extremely slim or muscular physiques.
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