We got a lot of questions on the Made for Kids video.
Isn't this what the YouTube Kids App is for?
How does this impact gaming videos?
What if children watch my video, but it's not meant to target kids?
Hi, I'm Lauren, the Head of Family Partnerships at YouTube.
I'm here to answer your latest questions about our new audience setting on YouTube
and the steps we're taking to ensure compliance with COPPA
the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
First though, since our last upload the FTC released new guidance
to help YouTube creators decide if their content is "Made for Kids" or not.
We think it gives helpful information that addresses some of your questions.
I'll cover that FTC update later
but you can also find the link to their full blog post
in the description below.
We know many of you have participated in the FTC's public comment period for COPPA
and we've submitted our comment as well.
One of the requests we make in our comment is for the FTC to provide more clarity
on when content is "Made for Kids" and when it is not.
We'll continue to engage on this topic with the FTC and other lawmakers.
OK, let's dive into some of the top questions we've been hearing from you.
If you want to skip around, we've put a list of the questions
and their timestamps in the description of this video.
First, why is YouTube doing this?
The changes we've made are to address the recent settlement
between the FTC and YouTube.
These changes are to better protect kids and their privacy
and to comply with the law.
YouTube is not, and has never been, for people under 13.
We remove thousands of accounts per week
when we discover they belong to someone under 13.
But the FTC investigation raised the concern that
given the increase in shared devices
kids may be watching kids' content on YouTube unsupervised.
And we can’t control how people and families decide to use YouTube together.
So, we have to make these changes
to distinguish what content is "Made for Kids" on YouTube
and then ensure we handle data for that content
in a way that protects kids' privacy.
"I make videos that are safe for everyone to watch.
I even call them 'family friendly.' Does that mean my videos are Made for Kids?"
No. Just because a video may be safe or appropriate for everyone to watch
does not mean that the video is necessarily Made for Kids.
What's important is who you're trying to reach with your videos.
According to factors laid out by the FTC
if your video has actors, characters, activities, games, songs, stories
or other subject matter that is intended for a children's audience
it's likely Made for Kids.
If not, it's unlikely that your content needs to be marked as "Made for Kids."
"What if children watch my video, but it's not meant to target kids?"
According to the new guidance released by the FTC
"your content isn't considered 'Made for Kids'
just because some children may see it."
If your video is meant to target adults, and children incidentally enjoy it
it's likely Not Made for Kids.
"Is animated content considered Made for Kids?"
According to the FTC
just because your video has bright colors or animated characters
does not mean your content is automatically Made for Kids.
While many animated shows are directed to kids
the FTC recognizes there can be animated programming that appeals to everyone
and, therefore, would not need to be marked as "Made for Kids."
"Does this impact Minecraft or gaming videos? What about family vloggers?"
Remember — according to the FTC
your content isn't considered "Made for Kids" just because some children may see it.
Although games like Minecraft might appeal to children
what's important is whether the content you've created itself
is directed toward kids.
Same for family vloggers.
Some family vloggers make content for kids, while others target parents and adults.
"I understand why you wouldn't want kids to have personalized ads
but why do you have to get rid of other features
like comments, end screens, and notifications?"
Similar to personalized ads, these features rely on user data.
So, for videos that are Made for Kids
these features as they stand today must be limited or turned off to comply with the law.
We know this is a big change, but to help protect kids' privacy
we have to limit data collection and use on videos Made for Kids.
"Isn't this what YouTube Kids is for?"
We recommend parents use the YouTube Kids app
if they want kids under 13 to watch independently.
But we can't control how families choose to use YouTube
and the FTC investigation raised the concern that
kids may be watching kids' content on YouTube unsupervised.
So, these changes must be made outside of the Kids app, on YouTube
to ensure our data practices for all content "Made for Kids"
are protecting kids' privacy.
"Is 'general audience' content the same as 'mixed audience' content?"
No. General audience content is [content that appeals to everyone
and isn't intended specifically for children, or is intended for a teen or older audience.]
Remember, just because a video may be safe or appropriate for everyone to watch
does not mean that the video is necessarily Made for Kids
and would not need to be marked as "Made for Kids" on YouTube.
Mixed audience content, on the other hand
is considered a type of Made for Kids content.
This is content that has children as an audience
that might include characters, activities, games, toys, songs, stories
or other elements that children like.
"Why didn't YouTube add a 'mixed audience' setting option?"
In designing the audience setting feature
we decided to streamline the options for creators
by creating a single Made for Kids category
to avoid further confusion in an already unclear space.
There are some complexities with the mixed audience category
and we're submitting public comments to the FTC
to help us create a better solution for creators
including mixed audience creators.
If you have content that is appropriate for both children and adults
what's important is who you're intending to target.
If you have some videos that are intentionally targeting children
and some that are definitely not
you can set your audience at the individual video level in YouTube Studio.
In our comment to the FTC, we advocate for creators throughout
communicating the potential impact that these changes will have on the community.
And we'll continue to do so as we work toward a better solution.
"How does your system define content as 'Made for Kids'?"
Our systems look for signals that indicate that a video is clearly Made for Kids
such as the presence of child actors, characters, activities, games, toys, songs
or stories that children like.
But remember, you know your audience best
so we've asked all creators to choose their audience setting.
You can change or update your audience setting
even if it's been set by YouTube's machine learning systems.
You can do this in the Videos tab of YouTube Studio.
We'll only change your settings if we detect error or abuse.
So, if you haven't already
make sure to set your audience at the channel level
or update your videos in YouTube Studio.
"Does marking my video as 'Not Made for Kids' mean it's only suitable for adults?"
No.
Setting your audience as "Not Made for Kids"
does not mean that it's only suitable for audiences 18+
and it doesn't mean we're going to age-restrict your content.
You can find more info on age-restricted content
in the Help Center article linked in the description.
"My content is Made for Kids — does this mean I won't earn any revenue anymore?"
If you create content Made for Kids
your videos may still be eligible to earn revenue from non-personalized ads.
These ads are shown based on the context of the video
rather than on user data.
We're also working to make other monetization features COPPA-compliant
so that you can earn money outside of ads.
"Do I have to mark my old videos as 'Made for Kids'?"
Yes. All kids' videos need to be marked as "Made for Kids."
You can bulk update all existing videos at once
and set a default for future uploads
using the channel-level audience setting in YouTube Studio.
If you don't want to set your audience at the channel level
but you do want to set videos in bulk
go to the Videos tab of YouTube Studio > Select video(s) > Edit > Audience.
More details are in the Help Center article linked below.
"How do I get into the YouTube Kids app?"
While this isn't about the YouTube Kids app
we're happy to explain a little bit more about how to be included there.
We have a "Creating for Families" guide
that is designed to help creators develop programming
that will resonate with family and kid audiences
and that may be eligible for the YouTube Kids app.
You can find this guide in the description.
There's no way to guarantee that your content will appear in YouTube Kids.
We use a mix of automated filters, user feedback, and human review
to determine if content is suitable for the app.
We hope this helped clarify
some of the confusion we saw in the community around these changes.
Again, if you haven't already
be sure to watch the initial video on this update
read the FTC blog with new guidance for creators
and review all the links in the description.
Thank you for watching.