YouTube is expanding its parental controls feature for the parents of tweens and teens. The feature is aimed at youngsters who have outgrown YouTube Kids but are still under age for some YouTube content. The company will release these features with a public beta for the supervised accounts feature in the coming months.
It will allow parents to choose from three content settings when they are comfortable enough to let their kids access more content on YouTube. The app will unlock videos – including vlogs, gaming clips, music videos, news and educational content – for kids aged nine and older.
YouTube will give parents the ability to choose from three different settings on YouTube. The Explore setting will feature a broad range of videos generally suitable for viewers aged 9 and above. It will include vlogs, tutorials, gaming videos, music clips, news, educational content, and more.
The Explore More setting will unlock content generally suitable for viewers aged 13+. It will include an even larger set of videos, and also live streams in the same categories as “Explore.” Lastly, Most of YouTube setting will contain almost all videos on YouTube, except for age-restricted content. It will also include sensitive topics that may only be appropriate for older teens.
The company says it will use a mix of user input, machine learning, and human review to determine which videos are included. It will also launch an ongoing campaign that features creators discussing themes like bullying and harassment, misinformation, digital well-being, and more. Parents can also use other controls offered by Google’s Family Link, including screen timers. They will be able to manage watch and search history from within their child’s account settings.
Further, the feature will also limit the abilities of tween and teens’ accounts. YouTube will disable in-app purchases, as well as creation and comments features. Additionally, it won’t serve them personalized ads or certain ad categories. Eventually, the company plans to enable some of those features “through an age-appropriate and parent controlled approach.”