YouTube has enacted sweeping changes to its platform targeting children's content after being fined by the FTC for COPPA violations in a move that has brought mixed reactions from content creators and advocates.
YouTube was the subject of complaints to the FTC by advocacy groups who asserted that the platform had violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act due to its practice of collecting the private information of child users and using it to launch targeted ad campaigns at them. As a result of the resulting FTC investigation, YouTube's parent company, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), was forced to pay $170 Million in fines and enact changes to comply with COPPA.
The changes to the platform are far-encompassing; on all videos targeted at young users, targeted ads are prohibited from being run, and certain features such as comments and live chat are disabled. Content Creators are required to distinguish if their videos are made for children or not as well. What is and isn't children's entertainment is mostly up to self-classification by content creators and specialized software, the distinction may mainly fall along the lines of the FTC's classification of child-oriented content, which is if whether or not the content is intended for children and what the content is, such as if it includes popular video games aimed at young audiences or popular toy brands.
While some welcome the changes, some are voicing concern that the changes might not be enough. "There's still a gray area for content that may not obviously be for children, but is mostly viewed by children," Josh Golin, director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said regarding the changes, "The burden is largely on creators to police the site and not enough on YouTube." There are concerns that other problems have been overlooked, such as YouTube incentivizing users to remain on the website for as long as possible.
The changes come as concerns regarding data collection and privacy invasion of children are becoming more widespread. The popular social media app TikTok was also required to pay fines to the FTC for COPPA violations.