YouTube may handpick videos for its Kids app
Google's video platform might have finally decided that it's time to bring in the humans.
Over the past months, it became increasingly clear that YouTube isn't the friendliest place for kids even with filters on. It doesn't just have a problem with vile videos pretending to be family-friendly content, but also with conspiracy theories popping up as suggestions in its Kids app. According to BuzzFeed, the platform plans to take a more hands-on approach going forward by releasing a new version of the Kids app that only shows videos and channels handpicked by a team of YouTube curators.
To be fair, the platform has been trying to clean up the website and had already pulled hundreds of thousands of child-exploiting and predatory videos and comments. But if its algorithm still recommends conspiracy theories (including flat Earth and fake moon landing) and disturbing videos to children, then its cleanup efforts are wasted. An app that only shows curated content can assure parents that their kids won't come across anything inappropriate.
YouTube will still reportedly give parents the freedom to choose, though: BuzzFeed says they'll be able switch between the standard version of the app with algorithmically recommended videos and the curated version. The platform neither confirmed nor denied the report, but the publication's sources said the app's whitelisted version could be available in the coming weeks.
