Yahoo Finance YouTube Kids app criticized for explicit content
YouTube is under scrutiny again for its kids app, after two consumer advocacy groups filed a complaint against the Google (GOOGL) owned video site with the Federal Trade Commission.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for Digital Democracy claim that the app features “content that would be extremely disturbing and/or potentially harmful for young children to view."
The groups compiled a video documenting instances of what they deemed to be inappropriate content on the app. The coalition cites a Bert and Ernie video dubbed over with explicit dialogue, clips of people tasting battery acid, a video of someone making a noose, and beer ads as examples of unsuitable material.
"Google promised parents that YouTube Kids would deliver appropriate content for children, but it has failed to fulfill its promise,” Aaron Mackey, a lawyer for the advocacy groups, said in a statement.
When the platform launched last February, Google assured users that its kids app content, aimed at children five and under, would have “a mix of automated analysis, manual sampling, and input from our users to categorize and screen out videos and topics that may make parents nervous.”
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Last April, the advocacy groups filed a complaint with the FTC claiming “unfair and deceptive marketing practices” deployed by YouTube Kids. Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task thinks these types of complaints could become an issue for Google's image.
“There were a lot of complaints that it was too commercial, that there was literally sponsor content and toy ads masquerading as programming for kids. Parents were understandably upset about that," he says. "With YouTube anybody can upload a video, so it's going to be difficult for them to try to police all of it."
Task adds that Google might want to rethink its promise to screen out inappropriate videos.
"If you're a parent and your child clicks on something that's offensive or inappropriate, you're going to freak out. That's just what parents do," he says. "That's a real liability, I don't know if legally, but in terms of reputation for Google. So they need to get this right sooner rather than later, if there's any hope for this app to be a success."
