Young YouTube viewers stand an alarmingly high chance of stumbling across disturbing videos. There is a聽45聽per cent probability of them reaching inappropriate content within 10 clicks of a first, child-oriented YouTube video.
鈥淚t鈥檚 shocking, and confirms what every parent experiences when their聽kids watch YouTube,鈥� says Michael Sirivianos at Cyprus University of Technology.
Sirivianos and his colleagues analysed more than 130,000 videos targeted at children aged between 1聽and 5. The titles of the chosen videos contained keywords likely to聽appeal to young children, such as聽cartoon character Peppa Pig.
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Starting with a single, age-appropriate video, a computer clicked on recommendations, traversing from video to video much like a child would.
Out of thousands of attempts, the first video recommended was deemed to be inappropriate 6聽per聽cent of the time. After 10 clicks, this chance of rose to聽45聽per cent.
A video was considered inappropriate if it was classified as unsuitable for children under the age聽of 13 using criteria set out by the Motion Picture Association of America.
The algorithms that YouTube uses聽seem unable聽to take notions of聽what is聽appropriate into consideration, says Stine Liv Johansen at Aarhus University in Denmark.
On top of this, young children often聽use their parents鈥� accounts to聽watch videos, skewing the recommendations. There is a kids-only version of YouTube, but the聽study only looked at the main site.
Concerned parents should keep an聽eye out for what their children watch聽鈥� and stick to official channels and playlists, says Liv Johansen.
YouTube said that 鈥減rotecting kids and families is a top priority鈥� and that it is investing in its child-specific app YouTube Kids. Chris聽Stokel-Walker
Journal Reference:听补谤齿颈惫,听
